I Didn't Know I'd Love You So Much
by Broken Headphones
Summary: Edward has his entire life planned out from college to his death day. Enter Envy Bradley, the new student who won't leave our dear shrimp alone. That life-planner might need to be put on hold for a while when life suddenly punches you in the gut.
1. Chapter 1

**...Yeah, normally, I'm not writing into girly, romantic stories, but this one was kinda of adorable. I couldn't miss out on writing this. It might turn a little mature near the end; however, I mostly plan on keeping it fluffy . So, I hope you enjoy! As for reviews... well, they pay the bills.  
I won't be updating this story until my other Edvy is updated and finished. But once I have that done, I'll work more on this. I guess you could consider this a teaser. **

I guess you could call it girly, but I preferred to think of it as a sort of lifeline for myself. My life, if summarized into one word, sucked. My mother was dead, my brother was really sick, and my dad had completely disappeared one day and then reappeared like nothing was wrong. He left us when we were younger, and we were living with him now, which I wasn't too excited about. Life hasn't been too good to me lately. I did well in school and had great friends, but even those friends liked to talk about me like I wasn't there sometimes. I was called a "hermit nerd" because I barely socialized myself. I didn't find much joy hanging out with people in the first place.

I'm digressing. Let's get back on topic, shall we?

I had my entire life planned out on a piece of paper. I was going into my senior year of high school and had everything planned out from this year, to college, and from then on. I was going to Yale (already applied), going to become an amazing surgeon, save multiple lives, marry a pretty girl, have kids, watch my kids grow up, have grandkids, retire at age sixty-five, and then die peacefully in my sleep. Now that I looked at it, it seemed kinda weird and depressing, sure. But I lived by it. In fact, I had my life's schedule with me all the time. It kept me on track of where I wanted to go so I wouldn't get distracted.

Alphonse thought it was just some post-traumatic phase I was going through because of all the family drama (he was probably right), but he was sweet enough to support the idea, even giving me names for my kids. And as sweet as his suggestions were, I was _not_ naming one of my kids Raphael. (I love you, Alphonse, I really do, but no.) Winry had no idea about my plan, which I was glad about since Winry would probably use it as an excuse to whack me in the head with her wrench. It was a secret between my brother and me, and I would prefer to keep it that way.

"There he goes again!" I heard Russell say with a loud sigh. It snapped me out of my daydreams, back to the reality of waiting at a stoplight with my friends in the back of Ling's convertible. Russell was always the jerk who had to start something like a fight, and mostly it was with or about me. He was very trustworthy, and if asked, he could keep a secret under absolute lock-and-key, but he was a serious jerk. I hated him sometimes. I even vented to him once about my dad back-handing me for dropping a glass bowl. He said that it was just one hit and that I needed to grow up. My dad hasn't hit me since, but he's not my favorite person. "He's always daydreaming! Someone pour cold water down his back."

"You do," I said, making Russell jump, "and I'll throw you out of this car. Don't think I'm bluffing." I pointed a finger at Russell. He frowned at me and turned away, looking down to a book that had been opened up in his lap. Ling grinned at me from the rear view mirror.

"Morning, Sleeping Beauty! Did you have a nice... Shit!" He slammed on the brakes as he started into the intersection, nearly flinging me from my seat. It it weren't for my seatbelt, I would have kissed the back of the passenger seat. Russell made a gagging noise and dropped his book. A truck honked its horn at Ling. "'The hell do you think you're doing? Your light's red, asshole!" And then there's Ling, one of my older friends. He was a pretty good guy, reliable, taken, and had road rage like a cheetah had spots. He also had one of the most colorful vocabularies of anyone I knew. Russell was probably responsible for that one.

"Idiot," Ling growled. "The light's red! That means you stop, not drive like a jackass." He sighed. "Anyone else besides me having a bad day?"

"I'm not far from yours," Russell said in a low voice, rubbing at his red throat. The seatbelt had dug into it. He bent down and picked his book up from the floorboard. "Watch how hard you slam onto that brake. You nearly broke my neck."

"Would you rather die in a wreck or would you rather deal with a little back pain for a week?" I countered. Russell shot me a look. I shrugged.

"I'd rather not be in pain, and I'd rather not die, thank you very much." Russell turned back to his book. Ling and I exchanged smirks.

"So, is your brother doing any better?" Ling asked. "I heard he hasn't had an attack in weeks." I couldn't hide the smile on my face. My cheeks hurt.

"He's doing a lot better, actually!" I said excitedly. "He was able to walk around without losing his breath. And he even played with Den a little bit. We might move if he keeps getting better and better!"

"Aw, how tragic. We'll lose the shortest person in our class." Russell pretended to gasp and be shocked. "Who else are we going to study when it comes to birth mutations?"

"I'll kill you!" I punched him in the arm. He gasped and rubbed his shoulder. Ling looked in his mirror.

"Don't make me come back there, kiddies. I'll turn this car around and we'll go straight home!"

"I wouldn't mind that, actually," Russell muttered.

"I'll make you walk the rest of the way."

"I'll behave, 'Mom.'" Russell rolled his eyes and picked his book back up. I had knocked it out of his lap when I decked him in the arm.

I turned towards the window and let my chin rest on my knuckles. My mind drifted away as Ling made a retort to the "mom" comment. I didn't hear it, but knowing Ling, it must have been brilliant. I stared out the window without really seeing anything. I wished I was able to leave this cruddy town. Until I got my acceptance letter from Yale, or another high-end college, I was stuck here for yet another year. Whoop-de-flippin'-do.

"So, I heard from Mrs. Hawkeye yesterday after class that we're supposed to have a new student today," Russell said, which brought me back yet again. "It's a guy." Oh, did I mention Russell had a tight connection with just about every teacher in the school? Maybe it's because his dad's a rich bastard. I don't know, but Ling found it useful to have him around.

"That's interesting," Ling said lamely, puling into the school's parking lot. He started looking around for LanFan, a young girl from his home country that came with him to our little old town. He didn't seem to find her and pulled into a parking spot close to the school's entrance. We all stopped what we were doing and Russel and I peered around the front seats when Ling said, "There he is!" and pointed. "He" was the new student. He was listening to the principal, whom everyone referred to as "King Bradley," as the old man handed him a few papers and instructed him. He pushed a lock of long, waist-length black hair back behind his ear and nodded towards the old man. Russell began to snicker, covering his mouth with his hand.

"He looks like a palm tree," he said through his giggling. "A damn _palm tree_! Someone needs to send him back to the friggin' Jamaican Islands!"

"Ssh!" I elbowed him harshly. "Be nice."

"He's void of any emotion, so there's no use telling him, Ed," Ling said with a grin. I snorted. Russell shot us both glares.

And then King Bradley pulled the new student into a one-armed hug, ruffled his hair, and patted him on the shoulder. My mouth dropped to my knees. So did Ling's and Russell's. The new student, flushed, turned away quickly and jogged into the building. King Bradley laughed loud enough for us to hear over the purr of the engine and walked in behind the new student. We all exchanged looks and grabbed our books. Ling locked his car.

"I really hope that kid's blood-related," Ling said. "Or we just watched something really awkward."

Russell and I both gagged at the innuendo of Ling's statement and ran away from him before he could further scar us.

* * *

Remember how I told you I was the "hermit nerd"? I wasn't joking. I sit alone at lunch, usually in a table near the corner of the lunchroom. I don't eat the school's food because it looks like it's been dunked in a vat of toxic waste. I usually grab a bottle of water and chips and sit cross-legged on one of the round, butt-numbing seats and read a book that I had stolen from my dad's library in the back of the house. Sometimes I don't eat at all, which makes my stomach growl audibly in science. Of course, I would eat like a pig at home. I didn't look it, but I could hold down a lot of food. Alphonse was a great cook when he could get up.

"Hey! Come back to the real world, would you?" a voice said. I jerked my head up. _Right at the best part of the book..._ I stopped mentally complaining when the new student stood over me, hair hanging over my face as he grinned down at me. "Ah, much better! Now that I have your attention, mind if I sit here? All the other tables are full." I looked around. A few tables were half-empty. I gave him a look. He seemed to catch on and sighed. "You're the most approachable person here."

"Gee, thanks, that makes me feel so _great_ about myself."

"Can I sit here or not?"

"Help yourself; I don't care." I gestured towards the seats of the table. "Just so you know, I'm not talking to you. I'm busy." I turned back to my book. He shrugged and sat down across from me. He crossed his arms and laid his head on them, staring at me. I couldn't help myself from looking at him at the corners of my eyes. He just sat there and looked at me. I turned towards him and glared. "Why are you staring at me?"

"I've never been so close to a blonde before," he said with a grin. I threw my book and managed to hit him in the head. I missed his nose. He laughed and picked my book up for me. "No need to be so violent! I was just joking." He held my book out for me. I snatched it away and turned my back towards him. He made a disappointed noise. "Aw, are you mad at me? Why?"

"You're pissing me off." I shook my head to move hair out of my eyes. The boy just laughed.

"You seem to get mad too easily!" he said jokingly. "You're funny." I could hear him move a few seats over closer to me. He was getting a little too comfortable with me. "Hn? What's this?" I looked up as he grabbed a small piece of paper off the table, and then he grinned. "Is this yours?" He held it out. I took it and looked at it. My face flared up as I realized it was my list. He burst out laughing.

"W-What are you laughing at?" I demanded. He covered his mouth and laughed through his fingers. "Stop laughing! It's not that funny!" He pulled his hand from his mouth, still grinning. I wanted to slap him in the face.

"Wow, how boring!" he said. "You're not planning for much fun, are you? If my life was that boring, I'd kill myself!" He wiped a tear from his eye. "I think that's the funniest thing I have ever seen." I glowered at him. He didn't seem affected by it.

"If you have anything else to do besides make fun of me, I suggest you leave to it; otherwise, I'll kick your ass." I cracked my knuckles. He grinned.

"Go ahead. I'll just flip you right over my shoulders. I've broken noses, arms, legs, ribs, and any other limbs you can think of. I got expelled last year for punching out my math teacher!" he boasted, sticking his chest out as if it was the thing he was proudest of. I cocked my brow.

"Why would you brag about that?" I asked. The boy frowned.

"Well, he groped me. What else was I supposed to do?"

"...We_ are_ talking about a math teacher still, right?"

"We are."

I moved over another seat and tried to bury my nose in my book yet again. Unfortunately for me, he moved over one seat closer so that we were two seats apart again.

"Aren't you gonna at least introduce yourself before you decide to stalk me?" I asked sourly. He didn't seem to notice the venom and spoke anyways.

"My name's Envy, nice to meet you!" He stuck his hand out. I looked down at it and turned so that my shoulder faced him. "Alright, fine. I don't care if you're rude. But you could at least tell me _your_ name. It's only polite."

I hated to admit it, but he was right. It'd be extremely rude of me if I didn't at least introduce myself and tell him my name. Curse my be-polite-to-others upbringing. "I'm Edward. Now go away."

"Aw." He pretended to pout. "But if I left, you'd be all lonely, wouldn't you?"

"That's the point, Envy," I said, feeling weird for taking that name seriously. "I'm called a 'hermit nerd' for a reason: I sit away from people. And you're kind of contradicting that nickname, you know."

" 'Nickname'? Sounds more like people are making fun of you." Envy's mouth turned into a straight line.

"Well, if they want to, let them. I don't care. People have their own right to be stupid if they want to be." I turned back to my book. Envy, once again, laid his head on his arms and stared at me. I bit my lip to keep from saying something that would make him want to keep talking to me, but the urge was a little stronger than I thought it would be. "Why the hell do you keep staring at me? It's annoying."

"I dunno," Envy replied. "There's nothing else better to do."

"Why don't you try reading a book?"

"I read. I just didn't bring a book with me, and I hate checking books out from the library." He turned his head away so that he wasn't staring at me but at the rest of the lunchroom. "People are looking over here." I turned around. A few guys were whispering and pointing. I rolled my eyes.

"They're just surprised to see someone sit with me; feel free to make other friends. I could care less whether you want to hang out with me or not."

"Aw, but then you'd be lonely."

"I'm not lonely!"

* * *

I was probably the happiest man alive when the last block of school was over. I was glad that I didn't have any classes with Envy, so that meant less time for him to bother me. I could get home to Alphonse, who was probably waiting for me to get home and Winry to come over so that he wouldn't be too lonely while I did my homework and Winry talked about whatever drama was going on at the private school her grandmother Pinako sent her to.

"Yo, Ed, am I driving you home?" Ling asked, even though he already knew the answer. I grinned and nodded. He looked over my shoulder and frowned. "Where's Russell? Don't you two have fourth block with each other?"

"Yeah, but he stopped by his locker to get his anatomy book. They have a test tomorrow, and he said he needed to study." I opened the door of Ling's car. "He should be out in a minute."

"He didn't get into a fight while you weren't looking, did he?" Ling looked around worriedly. I waved his worry away.

"I think Russell learned his lesson the last time he got into a fight. You remember that really big guy he bad-mouthed? He ended up in the hospital for two weeks." I bent down and placed my books in the middle of the seat where they usually went. I spotted LanFan sitting in the passenger seat. She turned around and smiled at me, waving. I waved back. "Hey, LanFan. How are you?"

"I'm fine," she replied with a small wave. "How is Alphonse doing? Is he getting any better?"

"Yeah, he's doing a_ lot _better! He should be completely healthy in a few more weeks if he keeps getting the way he is." I sat down and closed the door, playing with the metal buckle on my seatbelt. An awkward silence set in between us. That's how it always was if Ling wasn't playing Mediator between us. I could never talk with her. She was very pretty and could keep herself in a conversation, but whenever I tried to talk to her by myself, we could never really keep much going. She was shy and quiet and opened up only around Ling. Unfortunately for me, he was outside the car waiting for Russell.

_When will that stupid blonde get here?_ I thought sourly, looking outside the window for any sign of him. He took too long to do _everything_.

He finally surfaced, running out with a green book under his arm that was titled _The Human Anatomy_. He apologized to Ling for taking so long and jumped into the backseat beside me. He shot me a sarcastic grin as he placed his books on top of mine and I felt an immediate sense of dread as I buckled myself in. Ling started the car. Once we were out of the parking lot, Russel started talking shit.

"So. I heard you actually sat with someone at lunch today," he started, and I rolled my eyes dramatically. "One of my friends said it was the new kid. Is it true?"

"Yeah, it is, can we please move onto a different subject?" I asked. Russel didn't give up without a fight.

"No, I wanna hear about him? What's he like?" Russel stopped. "Or is the new kid a she?"

"He's a boy. Definitely a boy." I sighed heavily and turned towards the window. Russell made a noise of irritation and grabbed my arm.

"Don't space out! I want to hear the conversation you two had."

"Well then, Russel, you're just going to have to get over it!" I snatched my arm out from his grip. "You're starting to annoy me."

"Just tell me, dammit!"

"Hey!" Ling glared at us. "If you two don't shut up, I'll kick you both out, and you will have to walk home. Watch your mouth, Russell."

Russell growled at having to be scolded by him and turned away from me, muttering something that sounded like "bucking brass skull." I thanked God for giving me the ability to lose myself in the back of my mind and sighed. Today was not the best day in my book.


	2. Chapter 2

**I had this pre-written to the actual story publishing... It's taking up space in my documents.  
**

The entire ride to my house was silent. Ling always picked me up last because my house was closer to the school than his and Russell's. I didn't drive because my dad had the only car, and he was currently out of state on a business trip. As usual, it was just Alphonse and me during most of the week. Pinako came over every other hour to check up on Alphonse during the week because I was at school working my butt off. Alphonse was home-schooled by Izumi, a tutor and an old family friend. She came over on weekends and taught him things like math, science, history, etcetera. She used to be a violent babysitter, but stopped abusing Al when he became sick. She still uses me as a punching bag every once in awhile.

My house was two stories high and painted white. The door was a dark greenish color like seaweed. I hated the color, but for some twisted reason, Alphonse seemed to like it, so I just dealt with it. We had a backyard that belonged to us and Den, Winry's dog. She brings him over with her sometimes because he gets antsy without her. When you walk inside, there's a small stairway that goes up towards the bedrooms, upstairs bathroom, and attic. Downstairs holds the living room, hallway bathroom, kitchen, and den. It was always quiet in our house, no matter how many people were in it. But quiet was good. Alphonse and I liked quiet.

"I'm home!" I called into the house, taking off my shoes and placing my bag onto the red couch of the living room. Alphonse appeared from the kitchen, crumbs around his mouth. He grinned. I laughed. "What have you been eating? Your face is a mess!" I walked over and brushed the crumbs off his cheeks.

"Winry baked some pies for her school, but had a few left over, so Pinako dropped one off! Come on, it's really good! I'll heat a slice up for you in the microwave." He turned, wiping his mouth off on the back of his hand, and I followed him into the kitchen. There was a faint smell of apples as Alphonse put a slice of pie on a plate and put it in the microwave, setting the time. He turned his head and started coughing. I jumped up.

"Are you feeling okay?" I asked. He turned back to me and smiled. His complexion was a healthy cream, not paper-white like it was when he was really sick. I felt a small drop in my stomach and felt it come back into place. That always left me feeling sick.

"I'm fine, brother. I'm feeling better than yesterday!" He turned back to the microwave as it started beeping. When he opened the door, I took a deep breath. My stomach growled in approval of the smell of cinnamon and apples mixed together. I licked my lips as Alphonse placed the plate in front of me. I didn't wait for him to get a fork and picked it up off the plate with my fingers, taking a big bite out of it. Winry was the best chef of any of my friends. She could make almost anything anyone could think of. She even found a stew recipe that I love. And believe it or not, it has milk in it! (Note that milk is the evillest thing in the universe.)

"It's good," I said. Alphonse nodded in agreement and closed the box, putting what was left of the pastry into the refrigerator. "Did you have any black-outs today, Al? Any dizzy spells?"

"Nope. I don't get as tired as I used to!" He grinned. I felt myself sigh with relief. He had the same disease that killed our mother, but we had found a way to counter it successfully. If he didn't have a fever and he wasn't tired, he needed to stay in motion as long as he could handle. He cleaned a _lot_, which probably helped him. If he got a fever that wasn't over one hundred, he let it burn. If it was over one hundred, he'd sit in a bath of lukewarm water and fall asleep or he'd drink cold water. I really got worried when he did the former, but it seemed to do the trick. I advised him to bring a radio or a book to read, but he laughed at me and said that it was ridiculous to bring a book in the tub. I told him it was even more ridiculous to fall asleep.

The door opened and both of us turned around. Winry stepped in, slipping her shoes off. She looked up and grinned at us. We treated each other's homes like our own. We walked in without knocking. If it was locked, we went to our own homes. Winry was one of a few girl friends that I had. She was very pretty, and as I said before, a good cook, but she had a temper like the devil. She loved working with mechanics and her favorite weapon (er, tool) was a large wrench. We had known her since we were very small, since before Mom died. She was like a sister to us and seemed to be the only girl I'd actually end up marrying. Of course, I'd have to ask her out first, but we'll get to technicalities later.

"Hey Al! Hey Ed!" she greeted, closing the door behind her. "I just got back from the bake sale at school today. Everyone loved the pies I made and they were all gone by the end of the hour! I decided to come home early since I would probably get in the way."

"Hey, Winry," Alphonse said with a wave. "Would you like me to heat a slice up for you?" He moved his hand towards the refrigerator as if he already knew she was going to say yes.

"Nah, I've been around sweets all day. I might get a stomachache if I tried to eat one." She place a hand on her stomach and laughed nervously. I smirked and polished off the slice of pie Alphonse had heated up for me. Winry sat down beside me. "Guess what? We have a new student at our school today! He's really cool." I nearly choked on air when I heard that. I coughed, and Winry looked over to me.

"You too?" I asked when I managed to catch my breath. "We have one today. He's annoying." I growled at the thought of meeting Envy. He made me want to seriously murder someone. Winry didn't seem to catch the anger in my voice.

"Oh, cool! They might be related, because he said he had a brother that was going to your school. What's he like? Is he as cool as his brother?" Winry's eyes were shining. News about a new student in our neighborhood was a big deal. Not much happened around here, so when something big came to town, people were all over it. That didn't exclude Winry. "Come on, Ed, answer me!"

"I don't know if he has a brother! They could just know each other by chance!" She growled at my response. Alphonse leaned against the counter and smiled. "And besides, he's annoying. He wouldn't leave me alone at all today. He bothered me all through lunch. He even bragged about drop-kicking a math teacher."

"What?" Alphonse perked up. "Did he get expelled?"

"Yeah," I answered, deciding to keep out the part where his teacher groped him. That might have actually been too much information for Winry and him. The less they knew, the better. "Look, can we not talk about weird new students and focus on something else? I'm getting a headache." I massaged my right temple to emphasis my point. Winry and Alphonse gave each other a knowing and shrugged, starting into a conversation of their own about the new student. Winry admired him, obviously.

"Fine, I see how it is. I'm going into the living room to do my homework." I stood up and Winry grabbed my arm.

"No, don't go! We're just joking." She tried to pull me back to my seat. I shook my head and easily slipped my arm from her hands.

"Nope, sorry, but I really have a lot of homework to do. Mustang decided to make everyone in our class write down the ninety-six ions ten times because idiots couldn't shut their Goddamn mouths. Sorry, Al," I added when he gave me a look. "Anyway, I've already down about sixty of them, but my hand hurts like hell and I want to finish it before anything else. He'll pick on me again if I don't have it done tomorrow."

"He teases you all the time, brother," Alphonse called as I walked into the living room. "Even if you are one of his best students!"

"You're his best student because you have no life!" Winry shouted at me. I would have thrown a pillow at her, but Alphonse set a glass of water down in front of her and I didn't want to knock it over. So, I just rolled my eyes and leaned over the back of the couch, moving stuff around in my bag. I pulled out a blue binder and opened it. There was my messy writing to greet me, four pages of ions, and the original sheet that the ions were from. My guess for why he gave the entire class the assignment was just so he could give it to me. He was testing me because I had the only A in his class. I pulled my work out and fell back against the couch. Winry and Alphonse were carrying on a conversation about the new student at Winry's school, and I couldn't help myself. I smiled at seeing Alphonse entirely interested in what she had to say. Because he was sick, he didn't leave the house often, so he loved hearing stories about what was happening in the outside world.

Someone knocked on the door. Winry turned and hopped down from her stool, smoothing her skirt out. She walked to the door as the person outside knocked again and she opened it. "Yes?"

"Hey, uh, we're moving in across the street, and the movers aren't here yet. Could I use your phone for two seconds and call them?"

Oh. My. God. I recognized that voice. Alphonse trotted to fetch the phone as Winry side-stepped and, lo and behold, Envy walked right in. He stopped when he saw me, and grinned.

"Edward!" he cried. "I didn't know you lived here." If there was any way I could have slapped the look off of Envy's face, I would have done it. But instead I played the mature person and didn't attempt to smile. Instead, I nodded.

"I do," I replied. His cheeks were probably sore from grinning so widely.

"That's great. We're going to be neighbors!" He looked excited. I wanted to rip my hair out. Alphonse came over and handed him the phone. He thanked Alphonse and dialed a number in quickly, pressing it to his ear. Alphonse looked at me.

"Is this him?" he mouthed, pointing to Envy while his back was turned. I nodded and sighed. Winry smirked.

"He's cute!" she mouthed.

"Hey," Envy said, making both Winry and Alphonse jump. "We're at the house. Where the hell's the furniture? We've been waiting outside for almost two hours." He waited for a few moments. Winry walked towards me. "You know, forget it. Just drop it all off; Greed and I will take care of everything else." He hung up and handed the phone back to Alphonse. "Thanks."

"No problem!" Alphonse took the phone from him and smiled. Envy looked over to me.

"You didn't tell me you had a brother," he said.

"You didn't ask. And I wouldn't have told you anyways," I added to his grin. Alphonse frowned at my behavior. Envy didn't seem flustered by it. Rather, he laughed like I had told him a joke. Alphonse turned towards him.

"I'm sorry, but Ed's not usually like this..."

"Nah, it's okay. It's funner when people are reluctant to make friends; makes it more interesting." He grinned and stuck his hand out. "My name's Envy, by the way, and it's not a nickname," he added to Alphonse's surprised look.

"I'm Alphonse, his little brother. Just call me Al. Everyone else does." Alphonse took his hand and shook it politely. "And this is Winry, our friend."

"Hi." She waved.

"Nice to meet you all. Now I don't feel so confused." He grinned, but it disappeared when a guy's voice shouted, "Yo, Envy, get your ass back over here! How long does it take to use a Goddamn phone?" The smile was wiped clean from Envy's face, replaced by a scowl. He sighed. "But I _do_ feel embarrassed for Greed's nasty language. I deeply apologize for your having to hear that."

"No problem. Edward's a regular potty-mouth himself." Alphonse shot me another look.

"I am not!" My cheeks flushed and I put my nose back into my homework. Envy seemed to find that amusing and leaned out the door.

"I'm coming, Greed! Learn some frigging patience while I'm gone! Jesus!" He turned back. "I have to go before Greed starts eating children. I'll see you tomorrow at school, Ed!"

"Yeah, yeah." I stared at my work. I waited until the door closed to look up. Alphonse had his arms crossed over his chest and was giving me a look. Winry was frowning as well, hands on her hips. I blinked a few times. "What?"

"You really need to work on your manners!" Alphonse scolded, and I sighed. Here it comes. "You don't be rude to someone who's just moved into the neighborhood! I mean, he was nice enough to sit with you at lunch, am I right?" I looked over at him and let out a large sigh. He seemed to sense that he was right and continued. "Tomorrow, I want you to apologize for what you did."

"Yes, Al, I will." I crossed my fingers underneath my binder and returned to writing down the last twenty-something ions for my chemistry homework. Winry and Alphonse returned to their own conversation in the kitchen. I couldn't catch any distinct words because they were talking in such low voices but decided that it wasn't that important if they weren't going to include me. Winry came up beside me and sat down on the back of the couch. She started playing with my hair, picking it up between her fingers and letting it fall onto the back of my neck. I came close to turning into jelly. One way to make me putty in someone's hand is playing with my hair. Not sure why it did, but it turned me into a complete gummy bear.

Someone slap me the next time I compare myself to something that is made of cow hooves.

"Why are you playing with my hair?" I asked. Winry shrugged and started making a small braid with locks of my hair.

"I know you like it," she replied. I sighed and tried to write, but every straight line looked like a fricking crazy straw. I erased the word and gave up on writing. "So, is Envy his real name, or is he just hiding his real name because he's embarrassed by it?"

"I don't know. He called himself Envy. That's about all I'm aware of." I looked up at her. Unfortunately, she stopped playing with my hair. "Why, would you like me to ask him for you?"

"I would." She nodded and laughed when I growled. She petted my hair. "I'm just joking, Edward. You take everything I say too seriously. You need to get a sense of humor installed in you."

"Don't give me a reason to slap you, Winry." I yelped as her hand smacked against the back of my head. I rubbed my head as she jumped off the back of the couch and began the ungraceful process of trying to put her shoes on. "Are you leaving already?"

"Yeah, I am." She pulled the backs out. "Pinako wants me home to help cook for the new neighbors. We're having stew tonight; you two should come! Especially you, Alphonse, since you're feeling better." She turned towards the kitchen. I guessed that she and Alphonse were smiling at each other. I cleared my throat to intervene on the conversation.

"Sorry, but I have homework to do that will probably take me until nine o'clock to finish, and Alphonse isn't well enough to leave the house just yet. We'll have to skip out on the welcoming party." Alphonse appeared at the doorway between the kitchen and the living room. I looked back at him sternly. "Don't you give me that look. Do you remember what happened two months ago? You passed out while cooking, nearly burning yourself and the house down in the process! Pinako found you unconscious. I'm not about to let you leave the house when you could just black-out at any moment."

"But that was _two months ago_," Alphonse argued. "I'm so much better now!"

"Yeah, well, I'd prefer it if you'd just rest for a few weeks and see how much 'better' you really are." I closed my binder. "We're not going; it's final."

Alphonse glared at me, blinking back tears. He stormed upstairs when I wouldn't give in and purposely slammed his door shut. Winry gave me a look.

"You shouldn't shelter him too much," she said.


	3. Chapter 3

We have three types of teachers in my school: we have the strict type that were breathing down your neck about your grades whether they were bad or not (Ms. Hawkeye), we have the ones that loved to punish the entire class instead of the select few who really deserved it just for the sake of giving homework (Mr. Mustang), and then we have the ones that didn't care how bad we did the work as long as the assignment was turned in and they would give us an A for effort (Mr. Havoc and Mr. Hughes). I have to deal with every type of these teachers for my first semester, and let me tell you, it's not fun. For starters, Hughes is annoying, Havoc is lazy, Mustang is an ass, and Hawkeye is scary when she's mad. I managed to get her language work done in time, but it was a pain to do. I was up until half-past eleven doing my homework and had a hard time getting to sleep because Winry was squeeing over the fact that her new student was related to my new student, and that he was living next door to her.

I let my head fall onto the desk and closed my eyes once I had finished my vocabulary test. I was in a senior class, and I was still having to take vocabulary tests? I feel the school system might have failed somewhere along the road from my freshman year.

"Is everyone done?" Ms. Hawkeye asked, stirring me from my sleep. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and looked at the clock. Barely ten minutes until class would end. I had been asleep for about twenty minutes. It was a nice nap and helped me regain a little bit of sleep. Ms. Hawkeye didn't seem to notice me waking up. "Pass up your tests!"

I grabbed my answer sheet and her test and passed both up to the person in front of me, turning to get them from the people behind me. Rose, one of my classmates, handed me her paper and smiled at me. I grinned and turned away. Rose was a very pretty young girl. I couldn't remember exactly where she was from, but it didn't exactly matter to a lot of boys. She had light brown hair, darkened skin, and a nice figure. She was nice to everyone, and went to a Catholic church near the school. She didn't have a boyfriend, but I was sure that that would change soon. She got at least three love letters from multiple guys in our school, older and younger, all the time. I once commented that I'd like to see just what they wrote, and whenever she got one that she thought would amuse me, she let me read it. I relieved a lot of school stress by reading those love letters.

I passed her papers up and quickly gathered my stuff from the basket under my seat. Ms. Hawkeye collected the papers and sorted them out on her desk. I crossed my arms and looked back to the clock. At least five more minutes to go before the bell would ring. First block would be over, and then I could get to Spanish Culture class. Mr. Havoc was a lazy-ass teacher who taught us _nothing_ about the Mexican history and took at least three smoke breaks. He didn't have any students who failed his class, and it was mostly because he just gave everyone As. It was a good block for anyone to go and print something out for another class, get a pass to go to the bathroom, and sometimes we just sat in his class and read books or did homework.

The bell finally rang and I would have jumped out of my seat (like a few people did) had I not remembered Ms. Hawkeye's rule: if you stand up before the bell is finished ringing, you have to wait for the other students to leave before you can. My memory had saved me once again! I stood with about eight other students and made my way quickly out the door.

Havoc was actually in the classroom when I came to it. However, I thought I had been free of that damn nuisance; standing beside Havoc's desk and waiting on him to look at something was the new bane of my existence: Envy. He was poking Havoc, who had apparently fallen asleep on top of something that he needed and couldn't get the man to wake up. I felt a little sorry for him, especially when the other students began to snicker and whisper with each other. Of what little I could see of Envy's face, he seemed lost. With a sigh, I grabbed the three text books I had, walked over to Havoc's desk, and dropped them onto the floor with a loud _BLAM!_

"Waah!" Havoc bolted awake, falling over in his chair. Envy grinned at me in thanks while the students in the classroom who weren't mad at me for dropping my books laughed. Havoc stood up as quickly as he could, putting his chair back on its four legs. He handed Envy the slip and told him to sit somewhere when everyone in class came and took their seats. I picked up my books and walked to my desk. Envy, of course, had to take the seat next to mine, assuming that no one sat there. No one really did, but still.

"Thanks for saving me," he said. "I had no idea how to wake him up." He shot a glare towards the kids in the back when they started laughing again. "Some help they were..."

"Why are you here?" I asked. Envy pretended to be slightly hurt but stopped when I narrowed my eyes at him.

"I needed another foreign language credit to pass my final year in high school, so they transferred me from journalism to this class. Lucky that we got the same block, huh?" He grinned again. "Mind helping me catch up on what you've covered?"

"The only thing we've ever covered in here is the gut-wrenching stench of Havoc's smoking problem." I could see the confused look on his face from the corner of my eye. "He doesn't teach in this class. All he does is smoke and sleep, and maybe give us guys 'dating tips.' He talks way too much about boobs." At that last comment, Envy snorted and covered his mouth. The edge of his lips showed from beneath his fingertips.

"Oh wow," he said through a laugh. He pushed a lock of hair behind his ear. "Uh, don't catch me up on that. I'd rather not know anything about that." Envy smirked at his desk. I looked at him sourly for a moment before pulling out a historic-set novel and opening it on my desk. I didn't get halfway down the page before a conversation broke out beside me.

"Hey, aren't you the new kid that's related to King Bradley?" Despite my mind telling me not to do anything, I looked up. Of all the Goddamn bullies in the school, it had to be Zolf-fucking-Kimblee. He was the best-dressed, worst-mouthed kid in our grade. Sure, he was a handsome guy with slick black hair pulled into a ponytail and wore white dress shirts and black pants pressed by mommy, but he had the worst attitude in the entire school. The second a teacher was out of range, he began cursing like it was going out a style. And he was a pyromaniac. He had tattoos on his hands that made any normal human being worry for his sanity.

But Envy didn't seemed disturbed by his intimidating demeanor. In fact, he just frowned and looked up with disinterest. "Yeah," he answered.

Kimblee laughed and clutched his stomach. I turned to Havoc, sensing danger coming. He was asleep _again_.

"So you're his 'precious little grandkid'? Wow, you look nothing like him!" Kimblee placed a hand on Envy's shoulder. He looked at it with a scowl. "So, tell me, your granddaddy trusts you right? Right. Listen, I just wanted to let you know that I get into a lot of fights. Not a lot of them are in my favor, sure, but it's not my fault! None of the fights are my fault. So, I was just wondering if you could help me get out of a recent fight. This guy, we call him 'Scar,' for obvious reasons, see, we got into a fight awhile ago. Some names were thrown around, and then I decked him. I just need someone to speak in my favor that I, in fact, _didn't_ throw the first punch. We're in the same first block, so the alibi would be flawless! Whatdya say?"

Envy grinned. "Sure," he said. "I'll back you up. And maybe later, when all this is over, I'll teach you how to_ fly_!" He frowned.

The look on Kimblee's face, as priceless as it was, fell once he heard Envy's jeer. I couldn't help but smirk. Kimblee didn't seem to find it all that amusing. He grabbed the sleeve of Envy's tank and yanked him out of his seat. Envy was lanky and skinny, so pulling him out of a plastic black chair wasn't a challenge for the larger teen. Half the room became quiet while the other whispered, making bets. I shot a glance back at Havoc. Drool covered a few test papers. I prayed that one of them wasn't mine.

"You think you're funny?" Kimblee asked darkly, glowering down at Envy who was a head shorter than him. Envy didn't bat an eye.

"Yeah, actually, I do think I'm funny." He frowned at the hand wrinkling his shirt. "Can't you take a joke? I'm not charging you to laugh at them." Kimblee growled and shoved Envy backward. The teen struggled to keep his footing but managed. I jumped up.

"Knock it off, Kimblee!" I said, immediately regretting it when he looked over at me.

"Hey, Horsetail!" Envy put his fingers between his lips and whistled. Havoc twitched. Kimblee jerked his sights back on Envy. "This is between you and me."

"You're right," he said, advancing, cracking his knuckles. "So come on, palm tree. Let's go." He grabbed a sloppy fighting stance. Envy frowned at him. By now, the class had gone entirely silent. Havoc's snoring was the only noise in the room. Not even ten minutes and blood was about to be spilled. "Come on, newbie! Let's see what you've got. Fight me. Show me that move that got you expelled at your old school."

"With pleasure," Envy said smoothly. He didn't move. He stuck his hands in his pockets and stared.

Kimblee let out a ferocious growl and slammed a fist right against Envy's temple. He staggered back, caught off-guard, and knocked his spine against a girl's desk. She screamed as he reached behind him and grabbed the desk to prevent himself from falling over it. He blinked quickly to rid himself of the dizziness that probably came with the bone-breaking punch. But as quickly as he regained his posture, Envy balled his fist and slammed it against Kimblee's nose. There was a crunch as the cartilage gave way to Envy's blow. Blood gushed from his nostrils and he fell backwards, blinking back tears. Kimblee grabbed at his nose as half the class began cheering for him and the other half for Envy.

"You bitch!" Kimblee growled, holding his nose as blood seeped from between his fingers. Envy cracked his knuckles with a satisfied laugh. I wanted to jump in, but the blood made me freeze. The scene before me had morphed into a different setting, a different year entirely. Instead of seeing Envy and Kimblee trading blows with each other, I saw Alphonse's crumpled body lying at the foot of the stairs, blood slowly pooling around beneath his cheeks, pouring from his mouth and nose. The feeling of fear washed over me entirely. My knees were shaking.

"ENOUGH!" I jumped and looked to the back of class with the rest of the students. Envy and Kimblee halted their fight. While I had spaced out, Kimblee had earned a black eye and a busted lip. Other than the deep purple mark on the side of Envy's face, he seemed untouched. Havoc had been awoken by two of the girls who were worried about the two boys killing each other. With Kimblee's reputation, I wouldn't put it past him to do it. Havoc's face was red with anger. "You two, outside, right now! And don't you dare start a fight out there, or I will personally make sure you are both expelled! Kimblee, get some tissues for your nose and leave."

Envy frowned, shot me an apologetic look, and ducked his head as he walked out and let the door slam as he disappeared into the hallway, fingering his bruise. Kimblee muttered some horrible profanity that Havoc let him have and walked to the door, flipping the entire class his middle finger as he left. Havoc sighed and walked to the door. I sunk into my seat as he left. He put some girl in charge; I wasn't listening, but I think her name was Rebecca.

My legs felt weak, like jell-o. I think that if I tried to stand, I'd fall flat on my face. I buried my face in my arms and closed my eyes, sighing, fighting tears. That had been the scariest day of my life. Seeing blood made me relive that moment like it was on repeat. Call me hemaphobic.

Havoc returned some twenty minutes later, growling to himself. He had probably been chewed out for his laziness. I could care less about what had happened to him.

Another ten minutes later, and Envy returned, head hanging low. His bruise was now a dark purple mass, almost blue, on the side of his head. He sat down and sighed, keeping his eyes to his books. He looked ashamed and embarrassed.

"You okay?" I asked, surprising him by inviting him into a conversation. He looked over and smiled.

"I'm okay. Grounded for two months, though, and I'm suspended for tomorrow." He laughed. I couldn't help but smile at his attitude. "But I have this nifty battle scar. It should fade away after a few months. It's pretty tender right now." He touched it and winced. "Greed is going to find a play-day with this..."

I laughed. Envy faked shock.

"You're capable of emotion. I think the world might have actually ended." He laughed as my smile turned into a glower. "I'm just joking with you, Edward! Now that I know you can laugh, I'll be cracking a hell of a lot more jokes until you laugh again."

"Good luck. My sense of humor is about as dry as a desert." Envy just grinned wider. "You must have a lot of patience to be willing to try and make me laugh."

"I live with my grandfather; patience is my middle name!"

* * *

"Do you really have nowhere else to sit?" I asked. Envy looked up at me innocently with a small smile. His chin was lying on his arms. The bruise made him look even more pathetic.

"No, I don't," he answered. "You're the only one willing to talk to me. Everyone else thinks that they'll get in trouble if they talk to me or they want me to lie to my grandfather for them. Like Horsetail, for instance."

"His name is Kimblee, Envy."

"You say that like I'm supposed to care." He twirled a lock of hair between his fingers and bit his lip. "What's his problem, anyway? Why is it that he gets into so many fights?"

"No one's quite sure, actually. He's just really violent and surprisingly smart. He doesn't have a lot of friends, and even those friends don't like him." I noticed Envy grinning at me. "What is so funny?"

"You're actually talking to me," he replied. "So you don't hate my guts. That's good! It'd be hard to explain to the old man why I'm sitting with you when you're trying to kill me." He chuckled. I cocked my brow at him. To be mean, I poked his bruise. He yelped and nearly fell out of his seat as I laughed. "Hey, that's not funny. That actually hurt!" I just shrugged. I could probably deal with his stupidity for a few days. He might slowly shift away from my table and join in with some other group of friends later in the year.

"Hey, about what happened in Havoc's class..." He grin disappeared. "You got a little pale-faced in there, like you were hemaphobic or something. You didn't even notice Kimblee trying to knock a punch on you. What happened to you back there?" I looked at him for a few moments, trying to remember what he was talking about. The scene with Kimblee's nose breaking and the flashback of Alphonse's body made me shiver.

"Ed! Yo, come back to the real world!" Envy snapped his fingers. "You have a bad habit of spacing out, don't you?"

"Just a little," I said, turning back to the book in my hands. I swallowed.

"See, there you go again," he said. "You turned pale. You look scared, like something's about to eat you."

"Why would something eat me?" At this, Envy grinned.

"Well, there a lot of carnivores that love _shrimp_."

"Go to hell!"


	4. Chapter 4

**I made Roy so evil in my first Edvy, I felt I had to redeem him here. He's a good guy, I promise!**

The piece of gum in my mouth lost its taste quickly as I listened to Mr. Hughes go on and on about how his little daughter had found a little kitten on their doorstep when she got home from school and how she started carrying it around the house and dressing it up like a baby. In all honesty, I felt sorry for the cat. If I was a cat that was forced to be dressed up like a baby, I think I would have to stick my claws into someone's eyes. But Hughes's daughter _was_ kind of cute. She was dirty blonde and had green eyes like her mother but had her dad's sense of humor. I met her once, and she clung to Alphonse like he was a puppy, crying as Gracia pried her fingers from his shirt so he could leave. He hadn't seen her since, and Hughes often asked about him for Elicia. I had to lie sometimes so that they wouldn't worry about him.

"And look at this one, Edward!" Hughes slapped a picture to my forehead. "Isn't she just adorable? She wore this dress to her grandmother's house last Saturday. She also wore it when she met Alphonse, do you remember? Ah, those were such good times!" His face was glowing with glee as he peeled the photo from my face and went prancing around the room with it. I looked over at Rose, who also shared the class with me, and twirled my finger around my ear, sticking my tongue out of my mouth. She suppressed her giggling with both of her hands and turned away from me. I grinned. She only laughed that way at my jokes, which gave me a sense of pride and a seriously big ego.

"All right! Now, time for your assignment!" Hughes announced suddenly, making the entire glass groan. One guy fell out of his seat, and we laughed about it for awhile, but went back to complaining about the surprise work. "Don't give me any lip about it. This is a history project that's due two weeks from now. I want you to choose an important person from history, write a one-page biography about them, and make a poster explaining one of their greatest works or discoveries." One boy raised his hand.

"Do we have to use a full sheet of poster board, or can we just use half a sheet?" he asked.

"How about this: do you want full credit or half credit? Use a full sheet." He placed the picture onto his desk with the other twenty and began passing out rubrics for our project. When I got my sheet, my mind went crazy about who all I could be researching for this project. Einstein and his nuclear discoveries in World War II, Henry Mosely and his improvements on the Mendeleev Periodic Table, Marie Curie and her dangerous work with radiation without the proper protection! There were so many possibilities. I just didn't know where to start.

"Looks like our science nerd is having a field day with this assignment," a light voice teased. I looked up. While Hughes was busy explaining the rubric to a female student, Rose had moved herself closer to me. "Who are you thinking of doing for the project?"

"I have no idea," I said, "but it's definitely going to be a scientist. What about you?"

"A performer who really changed the stage," she said excitedly, cheeks turning bright red as she spoke. "Or a playwright, or maybe a poet. But nothing like Edgar Allan Poe. He scares me." She shivered. I was about to tell her that I was a fan of Poe, but decided against it. "This is probably the only other project we'll get until next semester with our other teachers. He hasn't given us a project since September."

"I know. This is going to be a lot of fun!" I grinned as she giggled again.

"Well, I hope you have fun with your project. I need this to help with my grade. When he showed it to me last week, it was a seventy-six, and you can bet my father wasn't so happy about that." She frowned at the paper.

"Well, if you really need any help, I'd be willing to tutor you," I offered, watching her face light up. "I'm pretty good with science myself." Rose giggled again. I noticed that she did that a lot around me. She grabbed onto my arm with a smile.

"Thank you so much!" she gushed quietly so Hughes wouldn't hear her. "Can you come over tomorrow? I'll drive you back home, if you're worried about transportation. It won't take long at all!" She batted her eyelashes. I felt my face flare up and I was sure that I was blushing.

"Well, I guess I could come over for maybe an hour... I have to get home to Alphonse, and I can't be out too late." Rose nodded in understanding. I don't think she could have gotten happier if I pulled a puppy out of my pocket and handed it to her. She turned towards Hughes and quickly moved back to her seat before he said anything to her. I laughed as she knocked someone's books over and apologized to them. She slipped into her seat as Hughes cleared his throat and dove into a lesson about one of England's kings. I pulled my binder out and began taking notes as he talked. My writing looked like something out of a horror movie as I rushed to write everything down.

After forty-five minutes of notes, the bell finally rang and I was able to get all the information I needed. I put my binder into my bag and got ready to go to fourth block. I'd have to deal with Russell all through chemistry. God knows what kind of shit he'd talk about since he didn't get his info yesterday. He wouldn't give up.

I gathered my things together, watching as Rose rushed out of the room with the flood of classmates, and stood up. I gave Hughes a nod and walked out of the classroom briskly. Roy's classroom was upstairs and down the hall all the way on the other side of the school. I had to run to get to class on time, and I barely made it.

"Nice to see you today, Edward," Roy said sarcastically. He smirked as I ducked my head and quickly jogged to my seat. I put my books onto my desk and slipped my bag underneath my desk.

Russell was on the other side of the room, talking with someone he knew. He spotted me, jumped out of the conversation, and came to bother me as I was pulling out my chemistry book and binder. He sat down on my hand on my desk. I looked up at him and glared. He didn't seem to get the hint and just smiled.

"So, am I ever going to hear about your new friend, Ed?" Russell asked. I felt the blood stop flowing to my fingers and tried to get it out from underneath his bony butt. He didn't seem to notice and continued talking. "I've heard a few things from other people. You two seem to be good friends. I even heard he took a punch in the head from Zolf for you!"

"That's a lie," I said quickly. "He and Kimblee got into a fight because Kimblee wanted Envy to lie to his grandfather to keep him out of trouble. Envy insulted him and they got into a fight." I took my pencil and stabbed him in the thigh as the bell rang, and I nearly sang with joy as my hand was freed. He yelped and glared at me, rubbing the area that was my target. "You're making up a story. I'd rather _not_ be the talk of stupid people's lunch tables, thank you very much."

Russell glared at me but quickly walked to his desk as Roy closed the door and stepped to the front of the classroom. "All right, everyone pass up your homework from last night," he instructed. "And once you have done that, take out a blank sheet of paper; we'll be taking a quiz today." The class groaned and Roy clapped his hands together. "Now now, everyone, there's no need to act like kids and complain about your work. You either do it or fail."

I curled my hand as I passed my work up and took out paper. Roy eyed me with a smirk and came around to collect the homework from each row. I knew he had it in for me when I was the only one to make a perfect one hundred score on his hardest test. And now he was working to see if he could fail me. But I studied all the time, and I was planning on putting up a fight against him. And so far, I was winning.

"Balance out this equation... name this compound... write the formula for this word equation..." His quizzes were quite simple for me. The ten questions were answered within two minutes of him asking them, and I laid my pencil beside my test paper as he went around the room to check everyone's progress on his assignment. He stopped by my desk with a frown and picked my paper up. He examined it for a few moments before looking down at me. He tucked it beneath his arm and nodded towards me with a defeated gleam in his eyes. "Good job, Edward, as always." I smirked and pulled out my book from lunch. I ended up talking with Envy during the entire break; I didn't even crack open the book.

Something fell onto my desk after a few minutes, and I put my book down to look at it. It was a small, poorly-folded square. I picked it up and looked around the room. Russell shot a glance back at me and jabbed his thumb back towards himself. A note from Russell. I put it behind my book and opened it up as Mustang bent over Scar's paper. The foreign boy had some problems translating English to his native tongue, but he managed it somehow. He was our transfer student but wouldn't tell anyone where he was from.

_So, will you PLEASE tell me about that new kid?_ he had written. I mentally cursed him for having nearly-perfect handwriting. _I've heard all kinds of things about him, even that he got into a fight with Zolf and lived!_

I looked at Roy with a careful glance before writing down my response. _Yes, he lived, just like every one of Zolf's "victims." Now will you please leave me alone about him? You're beginning to sound like an obsessed fangirl or something._

I threw the note back to him when Roy wasn't looking. Russell opened the note and gave me a frown. I ignored him and the note when he tossed it to me again. Instead of picking it up, I took my arm and casually brushed it off of my desk. Russell growled at me but turned towards the board as Roy took up the last of the quizzes and announced that he was going to go over our notes before the test tomorrow. Friday sounded like a great day to me.

And for some reason, my mind went right to Rose, giggling like a schoolgirl and holding onto my arm with her small hands. She was very pretty, I realized, and I kind of liked her. Since I would be tutoring her in history for the next few weeks left in the semester, we'd be seeing each other a lot, not to mention we shared two classes together. I gave the idea of asking her out a little thought before deciding that I would do it when projects were over and we didn't have too much going on at the moment.

I snapped back to attention when Roy's booming voice began the lecture. I hurriedly opened my binder to a fresh page and began writing down the notes he had projected up on the board. Mustang went through his lesson explaining the notes as we took them, waited for us to finish writing them down before he moved onto his next slide. Roy would sometimes meet my eyes while I was waiting for him to finish his notes and smirk or, occasionally, smile.

Roy was an old family friend, just a few years older than me. He finished college by the time I had finished junior high, and he always made sure I finished my homework. He also kept tabs on Alphonse, asking me how he was doing and if he had had any attacks lately. He wasn't a practiced physician, but he knew enough about medicine and the human body to help Alphonse when we asked him. He also knew that Dad wasn't around much, so sometimes he stopped by to check-up on Alphonse and me to make sure we were getting by. He was only an egotistical bastard in the classroom. And today, he was smirking at me.

There wasn't much to Roy's class, actually. It was mostly notes with the occasional test or quiz here and there. I honestly couldn't see why some of the kids in his class were failing because the work was too easy. Sometimes he gave hard quizzes, but those didn't take down a person's grade average too much. But then again, when you have some people who complain about their grades and then come to school bragging about how hard they had partied the night before, you can't feel too sorry for them.

"...And remember, you have a test tomorrow!" Roy said as he turned the projector off. "Be sure to study tonight. You don't want to fail another test. Some of you need to make a good grade on this to help your averages." He looked around the room as students began closing their binders and getting ready to take their things home. I was still pulling my things together when the bell rang and all of the other students rushed out.

"So, how is Al doing?" Roy asked nonchalantly, walking down the row towards me. He sat on one of the desks as I placed my books into a pile on mine. I looked up at him.

"He's been doing fine," I replied. "A lot better actually. He hasn't had any attacks or accidents." I pulled my books into my arms. "But I still would like for you to check up on him tomorrow. I've offered to tutor a friend of mine who's having trouble in history, and they're going to be taking me to their house, so I'll be be gone for about an hour. I'm a little worried about him having an attack when I'm not there." I jerked my head to the side, moving a lock of hair out of my way. Roy smiled.

"Of course I wouldn't mind." Roy ran a few fingers through his hair. "I'll pop in tomorrow after school. See you tomorrow; don't forget to study for your test!" He gave me a stern look. I nodded, thanked him as quickly as I could, and rushed out of the room and down the hall. I didn't bother to stop at my locker. I just ran outside and nearly slammed myself into Ling's car. He gave me a surprised look as I caught myself against his door.

"Well, slow down there, speed demon," he joked. "The car's not going anywhere just yet. We were waiting for you." He turned to get in as I rounded the car and slipped in on my usual side. Russell had his music player turned up so loud that I could hear the words clear as day from the other side of the seat. He was probably still mad at me for flipping his note to the floor and ignoring him in chemistry.

"Well, you won't have to wait for me tomorrow," I said as I strapped myself in. "I'll be tutoring Rose tomorrow, so she's going to drive me home." Ling gave me a smirk.

"That cute dark-skinned girl in your language class?" Ling asked. "Hey hey! Looks like our 'hermit nerd' is finally hitting it with the ladies!"

"Ling, don't give me a valid reason to kill you."

* * *

"Alphonse!" I called, closing the door with my foot. My little brother was sitting on the couch, Den flopped over in his lap with his tail going wild, and Winry was sitting beside him with a book open in her lap. I grinned in greeting at her as I pulled my shoes off with my toes. "Hey, Al, Roy's gonna stop by tomorrow. I'll be home late because I've offered to tutor a friend in my class." I put my books onto the couch beside my brother and clapped my hands to my knees. Den flopped sloppily onto the floor and met me head on, head slamming against my chest as he drooled over me. I scratched behind his ears.

"Den was getting antsy," Winry explained. "Pinako suggested I bring him over before he broke the door down." Den slobbered all over my hands and ran over to Winry to love on her as I wiped the drool off onto my jeans. "So, how was school today? Did you talk to Envy any more? How's he doing?"

"Slow down! I just walked in the door." I sat up on the couch and hugged my brother.

"I haven't seen Roy in a while," Al mused. "How's he doing?"

"Roy's fine. He's the same, cocky old bastard he was the last time he visited."

"Language," Alphonse scolded. I stuck my tongue out towards him and looked to Winry as she cleared her throat and gave me a stern look.

"Envy's fine, but he got punched in the head today by Zolf," I said to quell her. She perked up, eyebrows raised in surprise. "He and Zolf got into a fight because Zolf didn't want to get in trouble and wanted Envy to lie to his granddad. Who also happens to be the principal of my school," I added. "He was suspended, as well as Zolf." I remembered my flashback and shuddered. Alphonse gave me a look, but I ignored him.

"Oh, so he's like a bad boy?" Winry's eyes glowed. I frowned.

"Uh, well sure, I guess." I crossed my legs in front of me as Den bounded over and laid himself across my lap. I grunted as he laid his fat self against my stomach. "He's actually pretty cool. He's even letting me borrow this Roman-set book his aunt owns. Well, he has to ask her first, but he said it was good."

"Edward," Alphonse said, shrinking away from me. "You're smiling..."

"Why the hell do you sound afraid?" I asked, throwing a pillow at him. Alphonse caught it and placed it in his lap.

"Sounds like you're getting along with our new neighbor," Winry said. "You just need to meet Greed. He's a little rough around the edges, but once you get used to him, he's tolerable."

"You don't like him very much, do you?" Alphonse asked. Winry bit the inside of her lip.

"He's more annoying than anything else." She leaned against the bottom of the couch. "What about Envy? Is he okay?"

"He's cool," I replied, shrugging. "He got into a fight with Zolf, though, and he's suspended for tomorrow."

I jumped up, feeling my half-dry, sticky tongue latching onto the roof of my mouth. "I need something to drink." I left the living room for the kitchen. I rounded the counter, Den at my heels, and opened the fridge. A bottle of water was sitting comfortably in the shelf of the door, and I welcomed myself to it. It felt nice to drink. I sighed happily and closed the door, making my way back to the living room. Den had his front paws in Alphonse's lap, tongue lolling out the side of his mouth. Winry had her hands under her chin, and she was smiling up at Alphonse as he sweet-talked to Den. I leaned against the doorway and smiled to myself. This is the kind of life I wanted Alphonse to have. This is why I made a plan to stick to, so that nothing unexpected would happen.


	5. Chapter 5

**Not much of a happy chapter, but I hope you enjoy nonetheless! Merry Christmas to you all; I hope you had a good one!**

Friday whizzed by so quickly that I blinked and it was already Saturday night. Ling and Russell had invited me to go out with them on dates with their girlfriends, and I had to bring someone along with me. I had asked Rose to go, since she was with me when I got the news, and I could have sworn that that poor girl was going to have an aneurysm and die on the spot. She had a fit, shrieking and nearly crying, and she latched onto my arm and screamed "Yes!" at me so many times that I thought I was going to go deaf. Then she nearly ripped my arm out of my socket. And after an awkward ride back to my house, I was getting ready to go on a date, Alphonse was having to control his breathing from the shock, and we were both joking around as I was brushing my hair.

"I guess that means Roy's going to babysit me?" Alphonse said as I placed the brush onto the couch cushion beside me.

"No, Izumi's coming over," I answered. "I asked her to look after you for today, and she said she would. Of course, I won't be out late. I probably be back around ten o'clock, unless something interests me." I jumped up as Ling pulled into the driveway, headlights flashing through our windows, and he honked loudly. I pulled my brother into an awkward, one-armed hug and grabbed my wallet. "I'll see you when I get back home, Al! Be safe, okay?"

Alphonse gave me a reassuring smile. I gave him a thumbs-up in return as I opened the door. Ling honked again, I cursed at him, and shut the door before Alphonse could give me what-for for cursing yet again. I jumped down the stairs and opened the door. Ling and RanFan took the front two seats of the car, Russel and his date took up two of the three seats in the back, which meant I would be bumping knees with the blonde bastard. Nothing said "awkward date night" like touching knees with your least-favorite friend with his date right on the other side of him. Girls just didn't understand the weirdness that came with that.

"So, is Rose going to have to sit on your lap?" Ling asked me as soon as he was out of the driveway. I blushed furiously, hitting my knee against Russell's for the third time that night. He gave me an awkward glare, and I ignored it.

"No, she said she was going to meet us at the theater," I explained as Russell's date (some blonde girl from Spanish that I remembered tattled on Envy) giggled and averted her eyes to her knees. "So, what movie are we going to see?"

"Not that hostirical-romance-crap movie from Greece you suggested," he retorted. I frowned.

"It's pronounced 'historical,' dumbass." I crossed my arms. "And it's set in _Rome_, not Greece."

"Rome, Shmome. I don't care!" Russell rolled his eyes. "All I'm saying is that we're not seeing that movie because all these characters with the same name will mess me up." I almost made a comment about how his small brain could never comprehend the Romans but thought better of it and just agreed to go see some bad vampire-porno that Russell had been pushing us to see. He wouldn't watch it anyways. He'd sit with his girlfriend and make out with her for the next two and a half hours and ask me what happened during the movie after we got out. I made a mental note to ignore the movie so that I could give him an honest, "I don't know."

"We're not seeing _Splice_, just so you know," Ling said as Russell gave a disappointed cry. "Nothing R-rated. That's a rule RanFan's dad has, and if I break that rule, he'll know."

"Aw, man! That's just depressing." Russell leaned back against the car seat with a defeated scowl and the blonde girl placed a hand on his leg to soothe him. He smirked towards her; a twang of pity caught in my throat and I turned away. The heat was blasting on my face from beside Ling's seat. I ignored it and spaced-out again, thinking about how my date was going to go. After the movie, Ling said we would go to the outside mall to shop and hang out with our dates separately. If I was lucky, Rose would let me kiss her. _If there's a God, let me kiss her!_, I silently prayed. _Amen?_

_"_Wasn't your Roman movie R-rated?" Russell asked, turning towards me. I nodded sadly. Unfortunately it was, meaning I would have to wait for it to come on one of those pay-per-view TV channels to watch it_._ That was a wet-blanket on my hopes of seeing it.

The rest of the car ride was tense, with Russell and I trying not to bump knees even though they touched every once in awhile. I considered asking Rose for a ride home in order to avoid this from happening again, and Russell silently agreed when I whispered my plan to him under the cover of Ling's music. RanFan and he were singing to it quietly in their home language, Russell and his date were too busy snogging to pay any attention to the others, so I just sat awkwardly in my corner watching the lights on the side of the road.

"We're here! Hey, be careful," Ling added when Russell and his date jumped out of the car before it came to an absolute stop. He muttered something under his breath and dragged his girlfriend with him.

"No use telling him, Ling," I said with a grin. "He's void of any emotion."

Ling turned to me and matched my smile. "You're right. He'll probably make his date pay for every penny that they're going to spend."

Sharing a few laughs with the couple, I exited the car and looked around quickly for Rose. I didn't spot her sported pink bangs yet, so I decided to hang around the entrance until she appeared. Ling bought his and RanFan's tickets and told me they were going inside. And apparently, Russell had bought tickets for that gory movie he had wanted to see, despite Ling's arguments, so he and RanFan were going to split off to see their own movie, so I was free to a movie of my liking. I internally cheered.

"Where's your date?" Ling asked, looking around. I shrugged.

"She said she'd meet us here. I know I told her six-thirty." I frowned. "I'll give her a call to see where she is. She may be on her way."

"Okay. Well, see you after the movie." Ling gave me a wave, RanFan a smile, and they both left for the theater. I whipped out my red flip phone and dialed her number, which I had received after our first tutoring session. The phone rang about three times before she answered.

"Hey, Rose, where are you?" I asked. "I thought we were meeting at the theater."

"Oh we were supposed to," she said in a sad voice, "but I forgot that I had something to do today at my church. I'm really sorry! I would have called, but I got so caught up in everything..." She sounded close to tears. I sighed.

"No, it's okay," I lied. "We'll do this some other time." Something in the background crashed, and a kid burst into tears. "Sounds like you have to go, huh? I'll see you on Monday."

"Okay, thank you! Bye!" She hung up quickly. I looked at my phone with a sigh and shoved it back into my pocket. My very first date in high school, and the girl stands me up. That really bruises the ego. I looked back at the theater, seeing young couples clinging to each other and kiss, and suddenly the place didn't look like so much fun anymore. I would have called Ling or Russell to tell them that I wouldn't be joining them for the movie, but their movies had already started, so I just gave up on trying to do anything fun and decided to walk around the mall for the next two and a half hours. Nothing better to do.

I started off with a music store. I needed a few new CD's to listen to because all of mine were beginning to sound redundant. I'd listened to them about fifteen times and I was beginning to get sick of them. I passed by a few band posters and moved to the Rock section, flipping through random CD's in hopes of finding something interesting. Nothing really seemed to jump out at me. I sifted through a few ballad singles just for the hell of it.

"Yo! Blondie, are you going to buy something or waste time in the fucking store?" one of the clerks jabbed. I ground my teeth together and turned around. A muscular man was standing at the counter, eyebrow pierced over striking violet eyes. His teeth were surprisingly sharp for a normal person's and his dark hair was slicked back and spiked. He didn't seem to like my staring and flipped me a psuedo-bird with his ring finger. "Hey! I'm talking to you. Stop staring and answer me."

"Jeez, relax. I'm thinking of buying something," I snapped back, turning my back on him. I could feel him staring at me from behind, his eyes burning holes in my shirt. I shrugged the feeling away and continued to look through the bands thoroughly in case I missed something I liked. I picked a random CD from a band I recognized and flipped it over. It was one that I actually didn't own. I walked over to the counter and slapped it down.

"Finally." He picked it up and scanned it. I ignored his bantering as he went on about how long I took just to find one CD. I dug my wallet out of my back pocket and slapped a random amount onto the counter as he slid the CD back towards me. He handed me the change for the CD and turned away from me. I narrowed my eyes at him and picked up the CD, fitting it awkwardly into my back pocket along with my wallet.

As I left, I heard him murmur something incoherent about me. I rolled my eyes at his idiotic behavior and let the door shut harshly in the frame. I wouldn't be coming to this store any time soon, at least not during the weekend. I'd have to ask the old bastard for a car so that I could get around without having to ask my friends to drive me around. I was just barely capable of getting my own license without having someone drive me there. (Pinako.)

The edge of the CD dug into my backside awkwardly. I didn't bother trying to move it because that would only make me look like I was either trying to move my underwear around, or I'd look like I was a fucking idiot. So, I ignored it the best I could and tried to walk like a normal person. Judging by the lack of stares, I must have been succeeding.

"Pride! For the love of God, stop running in the parking lot! You're going to get yourself hurt!" I stopped dead in my tracks, recognizing the voice as the owner of it showed up just in front of me, hair looking an unnatural green in the setting sun. He bent down and scooped Pride up, resting the boy on his shoulders. "If you keep running away, I'm going to leave you at home next time. I only brought you with me this time because the old man said you needed to burn off energy."

"Let me down!" Pride, a young boy of at least eight, with the same dark hair as his older brother, was fidgeting on his brother's head, nearly knocking the older boy in the mouth with his foot. Envy grabbed his legs and held him in place so that the boy wouldn't bust his lip. Envy's ugly bruise was almost indigo in the poor light. I shook the shivers down my spine.

Envy seemed to be under the impression that, because I had talked with him all through lunch, we were friends now. He was intent on getting me to laugh now. Of course, since my humor was very dry, it was impossible.

Envy seemed to spot me and grinned. He tried waving, but Pride pulled at his hair, and he yanked the boy's hands out of his locks.

"Hey," I said with a half-smile. I had hoped to avoid any conflict today, meaning I would now have to deal with Envy and the bouncing ball of evil that was his brother. Envy growled as Pride fell over sideways and yanked him off his shoulders.

"You're walking! And don't you dare run off!" he scolded before grinning towards me. "Sorry. Little brothers are a pain." He lashed out and grabbed Pride's collar as the boy tried to leave for a store.

"I hear you," I replied casually.

"Oh yeah, you have a little brother too. What's his name...? Al-something, right?" He yanked Pride closer to himself.

"Alphonse." I put my hands into my pocket. "We're separated by one year."

"Really? No wonder you two look so close in age. Pride and I are separated by almost ten years."

"How old are you?" I asked in surprise. Envy laughed.

"Well, I'll be eighteen on December 24," he replied. So he was almost a year older than me. I suddenly felt so young with all these older, taller people around me. Scratch taller off that list. Seriously, scratch it.

"Christmas Eve?" I had never known anyone who was ever born during or near a holiday. I admit, I thought it was pretty cool that anyone was born near a nationally-celebrated holiday. Something about it just intrigued me. "Cool."

"Thanks! No one's ever thought my birthday was cool." Envy grinned, tightening his grip as Pride tried to make a sprint for the toy store. He tried to wiggle out of Envy's grip, even taking his shirt off, but Envy grabbed him by the waist and threw him over his shoulder. Pride started kicking. "Dammit, Pride, stop acting like a brat! You can go to the toy store later. We have to go see Greed first! Stop kicking me!" I felt sorry for him and grabbed one of Pride's legs. He glared at me.

"It looks like you're having trouble with your brother," I remarked. "Would you like some help with him?" Envy looked embarrassed. He set Pride down onto the ground and grabbed his arm.

"Sorry to ruin your evening with my stupid brother's attitude." I felt my smart aleck smile slowly slide off my face. Envy seemed to notice it, averting his gaze.

"It's not like I had any plans anyways," I said after an awkward moment. "My date stood me up tonight. She had some other plans she didn't tell me about, so I was about to end up at a theater alone anyways."

"Ah, really? That sucks. If I planned a date with someone, I definitely wouldn't blow them off," he said. Then, making sure he had a gridlock-hold on his younger brother, he stood up with a grin on his face. "How about I make it up to you? I was planning on dumping the small child off with Greed as he was getting off his shift and going home, but how about we hang out a bit? You don't have to, but you'll probably get bored without anyone around." I paused, considering his offer.

_Better to spend an afternoon with someone I can barely stand than go to a movie alone_, I thought with reluctance. Envy wasn't that bad. At least he didn't insult my taste in media like a certain blonde I know. And if the odds were in my favor, I wouldn't be bumping knees with him either. The night was actually starting to look up.

"Sure, why not," I said. I didn't think Envy's grin could have gotten bigger, but the Universe loves proving me wrong. "I have nothing better to do."

"Sweet!" He gave his younger brother a sharp tug as Pride started in another direction. "You can meet Greed. I'm sorry that you have to."

Laughing, the two of us walked back the way I had come in an awkward silence, not sure what to say to the other. Envy had to scold Pride every once in a while, and that was most of the conversation any of us had before Envy stopped in front of the music store, pausing with a look of regret on his face. And, reluctantly, he walked inside, holding the door open for me. I walked in, catching the door as he released it, and he walked up to the person behind the counter, picking Pride up and plopping him on the counter.

"Sorry little brother, but you can't buy him here." The man from earlier, obviously ignoring me, grinned as he laughed at his own joke. Envy must have been frowning. "That's human trafficking, and that's illegal."

"Shut up, Greed. It's your turn to watch him," Envy said with zero-amusement. "You get off in two minutes, and I'm tired of looking after him. I've been watching him since eight this morning."

"Sounds like a personal problem."

"Greed!" Envy snapped.

"Fine, fine! I'll take him." Greed, the man who had snapped at me earlier for "taking too long" in the store grabbed up Pride and caught me staring at him. He smirked. There was no grin, no smile. I felt my blood suddenly get cold. "Hey, blondie! You're back. I figured you'd have forgotten something here."

"Oh shut up!" I retorted, but Greed just laughed.

"Well, how embarrassing to have Envy's boyfriend find me at work with his little brother, huh?" Envy's face contorted to one of pure-grade humiliation and his cheeks flamed up.

"W-We're friends, asshole!" he stammered, looking to his feet.

Greed laughed. "Sure! That's what you said about the last boy." And without another word to my flushing companion, he waltzed right past me with Pride in his hands, leaving the entire store in a tense atmosphere.


	6. Chapter 6

**I got _Assassin's Creed II_ for Chase this Christmas! I love that game. Anyways, now we're onto some friendly fluff; the story is progressing, I promise! Your reviews are always wonderful to read. And happy New Year to you all!  
**

I looked at Envy as he ducked his head low, trying to avoid my gaze. My curiosity was over the bar; I secretly wanted to know who this last boy was. And if it meant that Envy... I swallowed. It might have been too much of a sore spot to talk about with the look he had on his face right now. Shoving down my burning want to know, I shifted my weight to another foot. "D-Do I want to know?" I asked slowly. Envy sighed and finally met my eyes.

"_Do_ you want to know?" he answered. I bit my tongue. He continued. "It was just something I was going through in junior high... Nothing important. I'd prefer to keep it in the past."

"Fine." I didn't want to tempt him.

I blinked, and Envy's grin was replaced, but his cheeks were still slightly pink from embarrassment. He placed his hands on his hips and faced me now.

"So, you still want to hang out?" he asked. "Or do you still want to go to that movie alone?" He shifted his weight. My lips pulled into a smile unconsciously. Whether it was out of pity or just the fact that I didn't want to be alone, I nodded my head.

"Yeah, sure. I don't really have anything better to do." I shrugged. "And besides, I already said I would."

"Sweet!" Envy walked away from the counter, up to me. His hands were in his pockets now, and he stance was casual again.

We left the store in a better air, talking and laughing again. And this time, it wasn't awkward. The tense atmosphere had finally dissipated and we had finally broken the ice. We talked about all kinds of things. Teachers, grades, siblings, just about everything we could think of. I learned that Envy was the middle brother of three, and he didn't live with his parents due to custody issues with both. His aunt, Lust, ran the house with her sister, Sloth. Wrath lived with them because he was coming onto the age of retiring, and despite good health, was pretty fragile. He had two broken toes currently (you wouldn't guess it), but he continued to show up for work.

"_Broken toes_?" I asked in shock. We had found a small table to sit down at and were both currently downing coffee. The moon had risen further, and it had gotten colder now. "What happened to him? Should he even be walking?"

"Doc' said not to, but he does anyways," Envy replied. "He fell down the stairs. The old man has blood sugar problems, and it dropped out on him one day. He was lucky Greed was there to catch him by the shoulders. He'd be in the hospital if he wasn't." I could see his hand shaking, but I wasn't sure if it was from the cold. "So, what about Alphonse?"

"What about him?" I asked, suddenly becoming defensive.

"It's just, you're a senior, right?" I nodded. "And earlier, you said you were both just a year apart. So why haven't I seen him around the campus?" I took a long sip, trying to stall my answer.

"Al is... He's sick," I answered slowly. "Very sick. He has the same illness that killed our mom." Sympathy flashed in his eyes, along with regret. He would probably have apologized if I didn't jump in. "But he seems to be fighting it, so who knows? He may go back to school next year. He's had it for about three years." Envy swallowed.

"Oh, sorry."

"Nah, it's okay. If you would have asked me about a year ago, I would have punched you in the face," I said with a laugh. Envy smiled, relieved that he hadn't offended me. "He could leave the house, I guess, but I think he prefers being close to people he knows can take care of him." I thought of Alphonse being taken care of by Izumi tonight and immediately regretted it. "Of course, his tutor is a little bit violent. I just hope he's okay."

"Your brother's really nice; I hate that he's so sick he can't even leave home." Envy frowned.

"He's okay. I come home and tell him all about things that happen during the day to keep him entertained. And he has Winry and Den too," I added.

"Oh yeah, the blonde girl," Envy said. "I remember her. A bit annoying, isn't she?"

"Just a little bit." I smirked his way. "She's _loves_ talking about you, by the way." Envy was checking out a cute girl walking by, and his brow rose slightly. "You should ask her out. I bet she wouldn't turn you down." Envy laughed.

"No, I'm into girls like her," he answered. I gave him a look. He seemed to catch on and turned away from the girl he was goggling at. "I just mean that she's not my type!"

"Yeah? She's not mine either." He laughed. "We've known each other for a little over twelve years; we grew up together. She's like a younger sister to me. It'd be too awkward if I asked her out." I tossed my cup at the trashcan and it barely made it in.

"Really? She told me you three were close, but I didn't like you were like siblings." He brushed a few locks of hair behind his ear.

"Yeah, we are. Don't you have friends like that?" I asked.

"Nah, I don't. I barely talked to anyone back at my old school. In fact..." He placed his cup down and leaned onto the table, locking his eyes onto mine. "...this is the longest I've gone into talking with someone." His mouth was a serious straight line. "And you're the only person I've told about my parents' custody problems. So, if someone at school confronts me about it, I'll know that you spilled the beans."

"Why just me?" I asked, suddenly offended.

"Well, Greed wants to keep it a secret as much as I do, if not more. And as far as Pride is concerned, Lust is his mom." Envy's eyes narrowed and he looked away from me again. He leaned back in his chair. "So, can you keep it just between you and me?"

"Uh, sure I can." I nodded. Envy smiled.

"Good!"

I was saved here by my phone vibrating violently in my pocket. I yelped as it moved against my leg, startling a few people around me, including Envy. I reached into my pocket and fished it out as it continued to buzz in my palm. Quickly, I answered it. The voice on the other end was one I was hoping not to hear.

"Yo! Where the hell are you?" Russell demanded. He never was one for proper behavior. "The movie's been over for twenty minutes. We're all waiting for you! Ling says he'll leave you here if you don't get back to the theater. He's pushing pretty close to his girlfriend's curfew. You have five minutes!"

"Yeah, thanks for telling me," I snapped. Envy cocked his head. I covered the mouthpiece as Russell went onto a curse-filled tangent. "Russell's giving me a hard time because, well, I was supposed to meet them outside the theater a while ago." I checked the time on my phone. It was almost ten o'clock. I had left home about six-thirty, if I remembered correctly, and been dumped around seven. So that meant I had been hanging around with Envy for about three hours. And that also meant I would be coming home late.

"Well, are you coming or not?" Russell said.

"I'll be there! just don't leave yet."

"If it's a ride home you're worried about, I can take you," Envy said casually. "You only live across the street. It's not like it'll be a chore for me." I paused. Then shrugged.

"You know what, never mind. Go ahead. I don't want Ling to get into trouble." I grinned at Envy as thanks; he winked in return. "Tell him to just take RanFan home. I'll see you guys on Monday." Without waiting for him to come up with something stupid to say, I hung up my phone. Envy smiled at me. "Shit, it's almost ten. I have to get home soon. Al's expecting me." I stood up from the table.

"Aw, really?" Envy stuck out his lip in a fake pout. He grinned and stood up, throwing his cup into a small trash bin nearby. "All right, I'll take you home then." He put his hands in his pockets, fingering at his car keys.

"Thanks." I grinned. "You know, you're not as annoying as I thought you were going to be." Envy looked shocked. I seriously thought I had offended him. Then he grinned.

"You know, you're taller than I thought you were."

If anyone's wondering where that dark red splatter in the parking lot came from, that was me knocking Envy's head open for the short joke.

* * *

"Hey, Al! I'm home!" I called as I opened the door and closed it, throwing my jacket over the back of the couch. The TV was still on, showing reruns of one of Alphonse's favorite soap operas. Apparently, the stupid show was on its fifth season. I was surprised no one had killed the main character yet. "I didn't see Izumi's car in the driveway! Did she leave already?"

I frowned up the stairway as no answer came. I placed my hand on the rail and leaned over, trying to see up the stairs. A light was on upstairs, and I could hear water running. "Al, are you going into the bath? Alphonse? Hey, answer me! Al!" I growled and stomped up the stairs. The bathroom door was ajar, and something was sticking out of the bathroom. I squinted, but I still couldn't see what it was.

"Alphonse, this silent game is not fu..." I approached the door, and opened it. My heart stopped right in my throat, and I gasped. I couldn't breathe. On the floor was my little brother Alphonse, blood streaming from his nostrils and the side of his mouth. I cried out and fell down beside him, shaking his shoulder. "Alphonse! Al! Oh shit, Al..." I took him up in my arms and shook him harder, but he didn't seem to register anything. I grit my teeth together and placed him down, jumping up quickly and running into our dad's unused room.

I snatched up the phone, dialing so hard that I was about to break the phone. My hands were shaking so badly that I dropped the phone as it started ringing. I picked it up hastily, holding it upside down and turning it back around. My hands wouldn't stop shaking. I was so glad to hear someone answer instead of that stupid ringing in my ear.

"9-1-1, what's your emergency?" a woman said. I could barely stop blubbering.

"M-My brother... sick and bleeding... need help! He's dying!"

"Okay, okay, calm down." The woman was on high-alert, it sounded, and said something to someone in the background. "What's the problem?"

"The 'problem' is that my brother is dying in our bathroom!" I screamed, wiping at tears that were now pouring down my face.

"Okay, sir, please _calm down_. An ambulance is now currently on its way to your destination." That was supposed to calm me down, but my heart was beating so loudly in my chest that I couldn't hear anything clearly. I couldn't breathe. The lump in my throat was cutting off all breathing. I was seeing stars, and I sat down on the bed behind me, blinking tears out of my eyes. I could barely make out anything she said after I closed my eyes.

* * *

My leg would not stop bouncing. I couldn't make it stop either. I sat on the couch, bleary eyed, and staring at the floor in front of me. The image I had been most afraid of, the one of my brother... I blinked back hot tears and clenched my fists hard around each other. My entire body was shaking. The man driving the ambulance wouldn't let me go with them. No matter how much I had begged and pleaded, they told me to stay home or drive to the hospital. But that bastard of a father had the only car, and I had called him about an hour ago. My stomach was so sick that I was about to throw up. I ducked my head, squinting my eyes.

"Ed, are you feeling okay?" I blinked my eyes and looked up, expecting to see Winry. But instead it was Izumi, her dark dreadlocks falling down from behind her ears. She had tears poking from the corners of her eyes. She had lost a child a few years before Alphonse and I were born, and knows what its like to lose someone you love. "You poor boy. You're shaking." She sat down beside me and put her arm around my shoulders.

"I think I'm going to be sick," I admitted meekly, bending over and putting my head between my knees. The tears poured from my eyes again. I could feel her warm hand rubbing circles over my shoulders. She petted my hair.

"I'll go get you something cool to drink and some medicine." She stood up and left for the kitchen. I sat up and looked at the TV, which was still on. The soap opera was going on a marathon, I think. It had been on since I got home.

Izumi returned with a glass of water and two small pills. I took them without question and downed the water. It did nothing for my stomach just yet, but the sweat that I had broken out into had finally stopped.

"I shouldn't have left," Izumi said to herself, twiddling her thumbs. "He looked pale when I was leaving, and I insisted on staying... But he said that I needed to get home. I had chores to do, but..." She wiped at her eyes.

"_I_ shouldn't have left," I argued, feeling suddenly angry. "I should have stayed. My date stood me up... I should have come home instead of staying with him..." I closed my eyes, trying to get the picture of my brother out of my head. It was just like three years ago, when Alphonse first showed signs of having the disease. He had nearly died that day, and he was probably going to die today, too. I could barely breathe. Izumi sensed my panic attack and straightened me up, humming to me and telling me to relax and breathe calmly.

"I have to get home to Sig," she said soothingly, brushing my hair out with her fingers. "And you need to rest. I'll come over and take you to the hospital first thing in the morning, all right? We'll go see him together." She patted my back. "Will you be okay for tonight?"

"Sure," I said. I was only half-listening to what she said.

"All right. I'll see you tomorrow." She stood up and walked to the door slowly, turning around towards me for a moment, and then she left.

I fell over sideways onto the couch, turning on my back and covering my eyes. I looked at the back of my hand sadly. There was nothing I could do now. I was powerless, just I had been three years ago. My eyes stung again and tears fell from the corners. I closed my eyes and turned my head into the pillow. Winry and Pinako were next door in their own home. Both were worried about Alphonse as well, but Pinako wasn't allowing Winry to leave. So I was going to suffer by myself. Fun.

I was brought back to the real world from the back of my mind by someone knocking on the door. It was gentle and hesitant, and I thought that maybe Rose had heard about what had happened. I jumped up and walked to the door, pulling it open. A woman stood before me, dark hair falling down her back. She was wearing a black dress and gloves, and towered obviously over me. Her eyes had the same peculiar purple color. I guessed that she was Lust, Envy's aunt, or Sloth. Her dark lips pulled into a sympathetic smile.

"You're Edward, am I right?" she asked smoothly. I sniffed and nodded, trying to comb my fingers through my tangled, messy hair. I probably looked like roadkill to her, but she didn't say anything. "I hate to meet you under such circumstances as these. My name is Lust; I'm Envy's aunt."

"Nice to meet you," I murmured. She smiled wider now. Despite her intimidating presence, she was very friendly.

"I just came over here to check on you for Envy." She put her hands together up near her chin. "I wouldn't let him leave the house, but he saw the ambulance and insisted to know if you were all right. He agreed to stay if I came over and reported back. It's nice to see you're okay." My eyes stung again, and her smile disappeared. Quickly, I put my sleeve up to my eyes and rubbed at them.

"Sorry... No, I'm perfectly fine. It's my brother." My stomach fell as I recalled what happened to him. I noticed I had started shaking again. She sensed it and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that. I hope he's all right. And if you ever need to, feel free to drop by our home. Envy will be glad to see you." She smiled, touched my cheek, and stepped away from the door. I saw Pride peeking out at me from their living room window. "I'll be sure to let Envy know that you're okay."

"Let him come by if he wants," I said without thinking. She raised her brow. "I mean, if it's okay with you." _I'd rather not suffer alone_.

"I will." She smiled again, and I felt comforted. She waved. "I wish the best for your brother."


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm sorry for not updating in so long! Gah. Things have been hectic here, and I just hadn't really found the time to update this story. Sorry! But this makes up for it, right?**

I was conscious, but I didn't want to wake up. I nuzzled back into the pillow, trying to block out the light that was pouring into the windows. Unfortunately, that didn't help me at all. I gave up on trying to sleep and sat up, stretching and groaning. I wasn't fully awake and couldn't process things entirely. I scratched at my hair, trying desperately to remember why I had fallen asleep on the couch. Everything flooded back to me: Alphonse, the blood, Izumi's visit, and Lust. Envy worrying about me, me bawling like a baby until I passed out. And here I was now, on the couch in our living room, with the TV still on. An anchorwoman was prattling on about a robbery attempt at a gas station in another town, so I ignored her and went to the kitchen for something hot to drink. Preferably coffee.

I walked into the kitchen and turned on the machine, pulling out a new coffee filter and powder, eyeing the clock. I had to do a double take because I didn't believe how long I had slept. It was currently half an hour after twelve. Meaning I had slept the entire morning away. And Izumi hadn't come to pick me up yet. I had the coffee being made before I called her. She didn't answer her cell, so I left her a message and called her home phone.

"Hello, Curtis residence," a deep voice answered. I recognized it as Sig, her husband, before I let my mouth run. I bit my lip.

"Um, hi, Sig. It's Ed," I said. He chuckled lightly. "Uh, listen, I wanted to know if Izumi was home? She was supposed to have picked me up a few hours ago, but she isn't here. Do you know if something has happened?" I tapped my fingers on the counter.

"She left about an hour ago," Sig replied. "She isn't there yet? Maybe she is stuck in traffic. You should try calling her cell phone."

"I did. But she didn't answer." I turned towards the coffee maker as it beeped. "Well, look, if you could get in touch with her, tell her I want to see her ASAP. We were supposed to go to the hospital today..." I looked down at my shirt and smelled it. There were small stains on my shirt from Alphonse's blood. "If it's not too much trouble, of course."

"Not at all." Right about now, Sig would have rubbed my head and reassured me everything was all right. My scalp began to tingle. "Tell Al I said to get well soon, okay, Ed?"

"Sure, I will," I replied, fighting back a sob. I hung up after he grunted a goodbye and ignored the madly beeping machine, heading back up the stairs. I needed new clothes and a shower. Bad. I smelled disgusting, and I wasn't a stickler for hygiene, but even _I_ didn't want to be near me with the way I smelled. I snatched a towel from the closet in the hallway and closed the door to the bathroom.

The floor was stained a light brown from Alphonse's dried blood. I did my best to ignore it and stripped bare, turning the water on hot and jumping into the spray. I wrestled the tie out of my hair and ran my fingers through it to rid of the braid. The water felt nice on my still-asleep skin, and I could literally feel myself waking up and relaxing underneath the warm water. The shampoo felt nice as the grease and oil were washed out of my hair and the dirt washed away with soap. I stretched again, sighing happily, and shut the water off. All in all, the shower only lasted about fifteen minutes. I wrung my hair out, wrapped a towel around my waist, and ran into my room, shivering in the cold air. I pulled on a pair of jeans and yanked a brush through my hair. It didn't work very well, because my skull started throbbing after awhile.

Once the brush was through my hair and I had finally gotten the locks under control, I threw a random shirt on, pulled my wet hair into a ponytail, and jogged down the stairs. The coffee was ready and waiting for me when I got into the kitchen, and I poured myself a cup. Once I had taken a few sips and let the caffeine run through me a little bit, I walked to the answering machine to see if Izumi had called. There were no missed calls or messages. I gave the machine a dirty look (like it would do any good), and turned back towards the news, hoping that something interesting would come on. The anchorwoman started in on a story about two lovers being reunited after sixteen years and I got disinterested very quickly.

I drained the mug of coffee and placed it onto the counter, making a mental note to put it into the sink later tonight when I got back. I walked over to the table where I usually place my keys and wallet, remembering that they were in the pair of jeans I had worn last night. I ran upstairs and plucked them from the pockets as someone downstairs knocked on the door. I nearly sprinted down the stairs, almost tripping over my own feet, and threw open the door. Izumi stood at the door, arms crossed.

"You took your sweet time," I said a little more sourly than I wanted to. She gave me a harsh look.

"I woke up late; I couldn't sleep last night," she snapped back. "Are you coming or not?" She turned away from the door and walked out. I followed her closely, jumping into the car beside her. She looked over to me and took my hand, surprising me. I was more used to her slapping me in the back of the head. "He's fine. I promise."

* * *

I hate hospitals. Hate them. They smell too much like medicine, and everything is too clean. I decided to change my career to something a little less depressing than surgeon when I got home. Izumi jerked me to her side as a nurse passed by.

"Watch where you're going, Edward," she scolded. "I know you're worried about Alphonse, but you shouldn't forget where you are. Stay beside me." She made sure to get her nails into my arm to make her point as she dragged me through the hall of the hospital. And she jerked me to a halt as she stopped by the counter in front of the receptionist. I glared at the back of her head as she and the woman talked for a few minutes. I watched as a young girl walked down the hallway with an elderly man who was dragging an oxygen tank behind him. He turned to me and gave me a half-toothless grin, and it was all I could do to keep from crying and smiled back.

"Come with me," Izumi said, releasing my arm. "Alphonse's room is over here..." She and I both walked down the hallway, peeking into rooms of people visiting friends and loved ones. One man was getting ready to go home, pulling on a jacket and bending down to take his daughter's hand. I turned away quickly, stomach churning. I knew that as soon as I saw Alphonse, I was going to burst into tears while trying not to. And then Izumi was going to get all over me about it. Just like she did three years ago.

Izumi pulled me to a stop in front of a room. The door was closed, and a small card said "Elric," marking which room he was in. I looked at the door dumbfoundedly, hesitating to go in. I could feel my legs shaking as I reached for the handle, mouth going dry. My hands were trembling as well. Izumi placed her hands on my shoulders, giving them a reassuring squeeze. I took a deep breath, blinked back tears, and grabbed the doorknob, opening the door. I walked in and stopped.

Alphonse wasn't asleep. He was reading a book, looking a little rosier than he had last night. An IV was attached to his wrist, and a small monitor near the side of his bed counted in time with his heartbeat. He looked up when I entered, and a smile spread out across his face. The machine's beeping accelerated a bit. He put the book down as I ran over and nearly broke his back. He put his arms around me.

"There there, brother," he said when I pulled away and found myself crying. "I'm fine. I'm not sure what triggered this attack, but I was told it wasn't very life-threatening this time. I'll just have to stay in the hospital for a few days until I can recover from it, though." I wiped at my eyes and felt Izumi come up behind me, lightly hitting me over the head for crying. I turned away for a moment as Izumi apologized frantically for leaving and hugged him. I excused myself to get some water, and I left my brother, running down to get a drink. I managed to find a drink machine near the elevator and bought a bottle of water.

"Oh, Edward," a voice said, catching my attention as I was taking a drink. I looked over and sprayed the water out of my mouth in surprise, wiping my mouth dry. The person in front of me wiped his face off, but he didn't seem fazed. He didn't show much emotion. "Really now, was that even necessary? Now I'm all wet."

"You deserve worse," I hissed, narrowing my eyes. "You abandoned us, and _now_ look what happened!" I gestured back to the direction where Alphonse's room was. "Go back to wherever the hell you came from. We don't need you here." I turned away from him, stomping back the way I had come. My father followed me closely, ignoring my threats.

"Why, Edward, what a rude way to welcome your father. Shouldn't be you crying with joy and running to hug me? I thought you would be happier to see me."

"I'm _not_ happy to see you! In fact, I'd be happier _not_ to see you!"

"Should you talk your father like that? I can ground you."

"You couldn't ground me if you put me in a hole! Now piss off!"

"Shut up, Edward!" My head wracked with pain as a hard fist slammed against my skull. I yelped and gripped at my head, leaning against the wall as stars danced around in my eyes. "We can hear you all the way back in Alphonse's room. Stop screaming so loudly."

"Why do you have to hit me in the head?" I demanded, yelping when she smacked me again. Izumi turned to Hohenheim and gave him a glare.

"It's been a long time, Van," she said. "You've finally decided to show yourself here?"

"I was busy," he replied coolly. "I just got a call from Edward about Alphonse last night. I decided to come see how my youngest son was doing. Is he all right?"

Izumi and Hohenheim both started into a conversation about what had happened the night before, and I left as quickly as I could, running to Alphonse's room. He looked at me worriedly. I just smiled and took a drink of my bottle. He gave me a look.

"Dad," I explained. He nodded, obviously understanding. "So, are you going to be okay? Really?" Alphonse chuckled at my intense worry.

"I'll be fine. As long as I'm here, they'll take care of me."

I felt myself flinch. So I hadn't been able to take care of him. That was a nice shot to my self-esteem.

Alphonse seemed to sense it and frowned. "I'm fine, Edward. You were a really good care-taker. But it's probably better that I'm in here, since they have technology that can help." He smiled at me. I just returned it and took another large chug from the bottle. I was hoping to avoid any conversation for the rest of the visit.

* * *

"You're leaving _now_?" I demanded, glaring as Hohenheim stood in front of the door, a half-packed suitcase resting by his foot. He looked at me sadly and sighed.

"I'll only be gone for two days this time," he said, as if it was some form of comfort. "I promised my boss I would return. I can't lie to her. She's extremely intimidating." He rubbed his beard.

"Great! Just freaking great!" I threw my arms up. "Your son's in the hospital and you're leaving to the next city for two days? How predictable." I crossed my arms and turned away from him. He paused for a few moments, staring at me with that apathetic look that always pissed me off. Then he held his arms out.

"Hug?" he offered.

"Get out of here!" I yanked my socks off and threw them at him. He grabbed his suitcase and gave me one last look before turning back towards the door and opening it. I glared at his back until he left, and then I threw myself onto the couch and glared at the TV. It had been on all day, and Hohenheim only decided to scold me about it after being home for an hour. And then he left. If there was any living thing in front of me, I would have punched it in the mouth.

As soon as the headlights in the driveway disappeared, someone knocked on my door. I turned to look at it. I thought it might have been Winry, but she never knocks. I stood up from the couch and walked over, opening it. I was surprised to see a soaking-wet Envy standing in front of me with the rain pouring down behind him. He grinned.

"Ah, good. You're alive," he teased. "I figured that, with all that yelling, you'd have had an aneurysm or something." He laughed. I could tell he was shaking underneath his hoodie.

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine," I said. "Uh, why are you wet?"

"Greed locked me out. I left for twenty minutes, forgot my key at home, and came back to find Greed had left, and so had everyone else." He wrung out his hair. "I was going to come over to ask to borrow the phone, but I heard you practically shrieking at your dad and became a little frightened. So, uh, can I come in?"

"Huh? Yeah, sure," I said, backing away. Envy walked in and pulled his hoodie off. He was definitely shaking. "Need a towel or something? You look like you're about to turn into an icicle." Envy laughed.

"You know, I seriously think my veins are frozen into ice. It's so fucking cold out there!" He looked around for a safe place to put his hoodie but didn't seem to find one. I rolled my eyes.

"Just throw it on the stairs; it'll dry."

"You sure?"

"It's my dad's house, not mine," I replied. "If something bad happens, he's paying for it." Envy snorted and did as I said, tossing the wet piece of clothing onto the stairs. I walked past him. "I'll get you a towel so you can dry off. You look a little cold."

"Would you like me to stick my hand up your shirt and let you see just how cold I am, Edward?" I shook my head and laughed.

"You'd turn me into ice!" I joked, scaling the rest of the stairs.

"Hey! Can I use your phone to call my aunt?" he called after me.

"Sure! Go ahead!" I jogged over to the closet in the hallway and pulled out a towel. I snuck over to the thermostat and turned the heat up a bit so Envy wouldn't contract hypothermia before going back downstairs and tossing the towel over his face as he was talking into the phone. He pulled it off and glared at me.

"Okay, I'll just stay over at Edward's until you get back. Okay, fine. Goodbye." Envy hung up. "Looks like you're stuck with me for awhile. Lust won't come back to unlock the door for me." He put the phone down on the couch and began drying his hair. "Sorry to impose."

"Oh, I don't mind." I sat down. "It beats staying here alone for the next two days. Dad's out on business. Again."

"Even though Al's in the hospital?" he asked slowly. I closed my eyes and nodded. "Sorry. I just... I wanted to know if he's okay."

"Well, when I went to see him today, he was conscious, and he's not in serious condition," I answered, feeling a slight relief that I could actually talk to someone without raising my voice. Envy sat down on the couch beside me, still wringing his hair out into the towel. "The doctors are making him stay, though. Bastards."

Envy laughed at me and placed a cold hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry. But, you're coming to school tomorrow, right? I mean, Spanish is going to be boring without you there. Plus, I'll have no one to talk to." He elbowed me.

"Yeah, I will be. I have all of my homework done anyways; might as well go." I combed my fingers through my hair. "Thanks for the concern, by the way. Your aunt came over last night. I heard you were worried about me." I shot him a smirk. To my surprise, his cheeks flamed up. He averted his eyes, frowning.

"Don't think anything of it," he grumbled back to me. "It's not like I was going to run over here or something. I was just curious is all." He let a smile break his glare as I elbowed him. He pulled me into a headlock. "And if you say anything to anyone at school about it, I'll snap your neck!"

"Hey! No need to kill me!" I slipped out of his grip, lunging at him. He grabbed my shoulders and quickly spun so that I was under him, pushed against the couch cushions. I struggled against his grip, squirming as his hair fell over my face and tickled me. "H-hey, no fair! You're stronger than me! Lemme go!"

"Not a chance, squirt!" Envy retorted. I fumed.

"I'm not a squirt! I'll kill you!" I tried to kick him, but I missed his leg entirely. I cursed whatever force made me miss his knee. "Get off me! Let go!"

Envy smirked. "Make me." I stopped and glared at him. He just waggled his eyebrows as I turned my head, giving him the silent treatment in hopes that he would move off of me. But that had the opposite effect. Instead, I felt hot breath on my cheek, and my face was probably as red as a beet. A pair of lips pressed against my cheek. Envy was kissing me. Holy shit.

"Do you want to know why I actually moved here?" he asked in a low voice, almost a whisper. I swallowed but didn't answer. He didn't seem to really want an answer from me. He continued, "It's because I had a boyfriend. But after I left him, he got weird. He began following me, stalking me, and would drive away anyone I liked. We got into a fight. He ended up in the hospital, but Lust had had enough. So, we left." He sighed. I shivered. My stomach twisted.

"It was a phase, I thought." He took my chin and forced me to look at him. His eyes were narrowed, like he was in a daze. I felt my cheeks turn hot. "But I guess I was wrong." And then, believe it or not, he lowered his head and _kissed me_. Flat-out _kissed me on the mouth_. If brains were capable of short-circuiting, mine just did.

And what did my stupid ass do? Did I kick him away and throw him back in the rain? Did I lock him in the hallway closet? No. I kissed him back. Like, really kissed him. And when he let go of my arms, I grabbed his wet shirt and latched on like my life depended on it. Envy just kissed more fervently, as did I. I didn't even jump when thunder began roaring outside. I was too wound up in our kiss to really pay attention to anything else. And the sound of my heart beating out of control in my ears contributed to that fact as well.

The door opened, and I suddenly came to my senses. I managed to throw Envy off me and bolt upward. Dad had walked in, surprised to see me on the couch.

"Oh, is something wrong?" he asked. "I came back because I realized I had forgotten my wallet." I pointed towards the kitchen. "By the way, what was that noise earlier?"

"Nothing!" I shot a quick glace to Envy, was was sitting up and glaring at me with a slight pout. He rubbed the back of his head. Hoenheim looked at me for a moment before shrugging. He slicked his wet hair back.

"Okay, well, I'll see you when I get back." He opened the door. "Love you."

"Get the hell out of here!" I grabbed a pillow and threw it, angry that it missed him by a good two inches and landed in the kitchen. He left swiftly.

"Sorry," I heard acidly, and turned to find Envy standing up, brushing his leg off. He looked up at me, and suddenly he was guarded and his eyes were cold. His jaw was set stiffly.

"Er, what for?"

"You know." He narrowed his eyes. Headlights flashed in the road. "That's probably Lust. I should go."

"Uh, wait..."

"See you tomorrow." Without a single glance or wave towards me, he left. And I felt really, really, _really_ sad.

I punched the couch with a loud, angry yell.


	8. Chapter 8

**Drama!  
**

I did not want to wake up for school today. At all. In fact, I wanted to find a dark, deep hole to crawl into and put a rock over it. I could live there without having to face the humiliation of seeing Envy again. After last night, I didn't think I could. But I had to. Not only would he harass me about talking to him, but he'd most likely try to make everything not-awkward, which would make him fail miserably. And knowing me, I'd say something stupid really loud and alert people of, uh, our kiss.

I buried my face in my pillow in hopes of smothering the flames in my cheeks.

I sat up and rubbed my eyes, glancing over at my desk across the room. Hung over the back of my chair was Envy's damp sweatshirt, which he left when he stormed out. It gave me an excuse to talk to him, which was good, and I was hoping we could sort things out. It was definitely nicer to have someone to talk to, especially someone who actually got what I was talking about.

I felt my cheeks suddenly get hot and I rushed to the bathroom to take a cold shower. The copper stain was gone (from twenty minutes of back-hurting scrubbing), and the mirror misted instantly from the hot steam of the water. I jumped in, washed my hair and body as quickly as I could, and jumped right back out, wrapping the towel tightly around my waist. The hallway was cold as hell as I sprinted for my bedroom and slammed the door shut. For a split second, I thought of waking Alphonse with the noise, but remembered he was in the hospital, and I ignored it. I would most likely wake the neighbors before I woke anyone else.

I pulled on a random shirt and jeans, looking around for a brush to pull out my wet tangles.

The morning was not going so smoothly, as I forgot to tie my shoes and ended up with a mouthful of carpet.

* * *

Guys should not embrace. At all. There's a reason why two guys hug with only one arm. It's because holding another guy to yourself makes others stare and cover their child's eyes. When a guy is hurt or upset, you put one arm around him to show your support. You do not grab the other guy by his shoulders and pull him to you, hugging and crying and making a scene for the old lady next door. Someone would have to drill that into Ling's head as soon as possible, or I'd force him to understand that.

"Let. Go. Of Me," I said, gulping down air as much as I could. "Ling. I can't _breathe_. Let go."

Ling looked at me before releasing, and Russel put his hand on my shoulder, giving me a small, awkward smile. He wasn't good in these kinds of situations.

"Sorry about Al," he said, trying to choose his words. "He's okay, though, right?"

"Yeah, he's fine," I replied. "The doctors want him to stay a few days extra. Just in case he has another attack." I smiled. "I'm fine too, if you're thinking of asking about that."

"That's good to know." Ling put a hand on my shoulder. "Come on, let's get going. I can practically hear Alphonse yelling at us to leave before we're late." He laughed, and both of my friends seemed to relax when I cracked a smile.

"Me too." I shifted my books in my arms. Russell smiled at me (not one of those sarcastic smiles) and jogged down the porch steps. I double-checked the lock on the door before following him and Ling to his car.

My attention was caught when Envy and Greed exited their own house, heading towards Envy's car. I stopped.

"Envy!" I called, and the older boy spun towards me. He looked alarmed for a split second before narrowing his eyes, looking guarded. I flinched. "You left your sweatshirt at my house. Here." I put my books on the hood of Ling's car and approached my neighbor, holding out the clothing. He looked at me coldly as he took it.

"Thanks," he said flatly.

"No problem," I replied, not bothering to hide the surprise in my voice. "Um, see you later."

"Prob'ly not." He turned away from me without a word and unlocked his car doors, slipping inside. Greed looked at me harshly, leaning against the top of Envy's car. I turned to look at Ling and Russell, who were already scurrying to get into the car. Russel threw my books into the back.

"Fix your mess," Greed snapped as I tried to walk away. I turned back.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me, Edward. Fix your mess."

Greed glared at me for a few moments, clenching his fist, before turning away and entering Envy's car. I walked briskly back over to Ling as Envy revved the engine and quickly drove away. I slipped into the back of Ling's car and slammed the door shut. Both guys looked at me without a word. I could feel Ling's eyes from the review mirror. Russell didn't try to be discreet like Ling. He watched me carefully.

"What was that about?" he demanded. I looked at him.

"I don't know. Envy's mad at me for something." I felt a tug in my chest. "Maybe I said something to him that offended him when he was staying over."

" 'Maybe'?" Ling said with a laugh. "I don't mean to be rude, but he was looking at you like he was hoping you'd just curl up and die somewhere." I pictured Envy's cold look. Ling was spot on.

* * *

"Maybe he's, uh, mad with his family?" Al suggested. I rolled my eyes, leaning against the bathroom stall. It was third block, and I'd lied to Hughes about having a stomach ache so I could escape to the bathroom and call Alphonse. I just needed to talk to someone without getting punched in the head and being told to "suck it up." "You said that Greed pushed a button with him awhile back. Maybe Greed did it again, and he's the type to, you know, take his anger out on everyone around him."

"No, you're wrong," I replied softly, hoping no one had to go to the bathroom this period. "He was talking with _Zolf_ today, the guy he punched out in the middle of Spanish! There's no way it's just his family. Even Greed seemed pissed off at me."

"Oh." Alphonse got quiet. I could hear the machine beeping in the background. "Well, then ask what you did to make him mad and apologize. It couldn't be that bad, right?" I sighed and smiled. Something about talking with Alphonse always seemed to make me feel better about my mistakes.

"Thanks, Al. I'll be sure to do that. If his dagger-gaze doesn't kill me first." Alphonse laughed.

"I hope you'll be alive when I see you!" he joked back. "When is Dad supposed to be back?"

I grimaced. "Tomorrow night."

"Oh? Well, you have a holiday tomorrow, right? Come visit me! I'm so bored here!" I could imagine Alphonse's baby-ish face pouting. "There's nothing to do but watch TV. They don't have the channel my show is on, and the whole place smells like medicine and antiseptic. I hate it here. I want to go home." It took a lot to make Alphonse complain. If there was anything he hated more than being too sick to leave home, it was having to stay in a hospital. He hated them, considering he spent a lot of time in one as a middle-schooler.

"Sure, I will," I said. "I have to finish a history project tonight, and I want to get it done early so I won't have to worry about it."

"Okay."

"I'll talk to you later tonight, Al. I have to get back to class before Hughes thinks I've died." I unlocked the stall door. "I'll see you tomorrow, bro. Love you."

"Love you too!" Al got quiet for a moment; someone was talking to him in the background. "Oh! And Izumi says to get your behind back to class and stop cutting before she tells father."

"Fine!"

I shut my phone and pushed the door open. No one was in the bathroom, so I left the bathroom and walked slowly to Hughes's class. Why couldn't I wrap my mind around the reason Envy was so mad at me? And why was I so obsessed with finding out what that reason was? I could barely go five minutes without being bothered by it. The thought of Envy being angry with me actually hurt me. I was more upset than offended, really.

I opened the door to Hughes's class and ignored the stares that came with entering a classroom. Hughes looked at me worriedly.

"Are you feeling better, Edward?" he asked.

"I am, thanks," I lied, walking to my desk. Hughes gave me a look before resuming with the lesson he began to teach after I left. I opened my binder and scribbled down the notes as quickly as possible, making a mental note to decipher them later. More about the Revolution, I think.

Someone tapped me on the shoulder. I looked over my shoulder, meeting eyes with Rose. She looked like she was about to start crying. She played with a lock of her hair, looking at me sheepishly. She started to speak, but stopped herself.

"What?" I asked softly, making her jump. She twisted her hair around her finger some more.

"Um, tell me... Uh, are you able to tutor me tonight? I need help with my geometry, too... And-and I can't afford another bad grade," she pleaded, putting her hands together. I smiled and sighed.

"Yeah, I'll help you. Wait for me this afternoon." I flashed her another smile before turning back to the board. Hughes decided to punish my "lack of attention" with a bombardment of pictures of his daughter. Again.

* * *

After the final bell rang and everyone had hurried out of the classroom with their things, Roy called me to his side to question me about Alphonse's unfortunate accident. Frankly, I didn't want to talk about it because it continued to bring up bad memories, and I was tired of the sympathy, but since he was an old family friend, I let it slide.

"Is he all right?" Roy asked. "I received word from Hohenheim yesterday about it. He was asking me if I had noticed anything unusual about Alphonse's health when I gave him a check-up. He seemed to be earnestly worried about him. He wouldn't tell me anything about it when I asked him. He hung up quickly and didn't answer when I called him back."

"Alphonse is fine," I replied. "He's staying in the hospital awhile longer, but the doctor said that he'd recover quickly and be ready to leave by Thursday or Friday." I grinned. "You have nothing to worry about."

"Well, sure I do. I was worried about how you were taking it." Roy ran his fingers through his hair. "I probably could have done a further check, but everything seemed fine, so I only half-assed it. I regret doing that now. His heart-rate must have been off the charts for that to happen so quickly. I'm sorry, Edward, for not taking more time, and..."

"It's okay, Roy." I leaned against his desk. "I would have done the same thing if everything checked out okay with Alphonse. But I'm just glad I found him in time. He should be coming home near the end of the week." Roy smiled at my response.

"That's good news. Tell him I said hello when you see him," Roy said with a small smile. "I'll be out of town tomorrow for the holiday. Meeting my foster-mother for a special dinner."

"Aw, that's nice." I grinned and glanced at the clock. "Crap! I have to go. My ride will leave without me." I waved at Roy. "Thanks again for what you've done."

"No problem."

Roy waved back as I quickly gathered my books in my hands and dashed through the hallways, dodging couples who decided to stay last-minute to make-out in front of their lockers. It was annoying and made me look like a bad person when I accidentally knocked against a girl's arm and she threw a fit. I ignored her protests and burst through the doors. Ling looked at me in surprise and I ran up to him.

"Hey, I'll be riding home with Rose again," I said through heavy breaths.

"The girl who stood you up?" Ling raised his brow. "Are you really that desperate to go out with her? There are other fish in the sea, you know."

"No, it's a tutoring session!" I said, shaking my head quickly. "Nothing like that. I'm just helping her with her geometry."

"Really? You aren't tutoring her in chemistry?" Ling waggled his eyebrows, grinning suggestively. I met his smirk with a glare.

"Ling. Don't give me a reason to kick your ass."

* * *

If anyone thought that Envy and me kissing was awkward, think about the half-hour drive to my crush's house in complete silence with no idea what to say. And then, when she asked me how my weekend went, my mind immediately went to the kiss. And I blushed and stuttered out a "Nothing!," which made the ride even more awkward because now I felt like a total ass. Rose flipped on the radio of her car to a gospel rock band, and I distracted myself by finding the beat in the song and tapping my finger to it.

"S-So, um, these proofs," she started, and I turned to her. "I don't quite understand them. Do you get it?"

"Y-Yeah, totally!" I stammered, trying to remember what proofs were. "I aced that test."

"Oh, good! Then you can help me!" She was suddenly silent. She tapped her fingers on the steering wheel, and the air was once again filled with tension. This is definitely not a way to get your crush to like you. "Say, um, Edward..."

"Hn?" I had gone back to spacing out.

"Um, I'm sorry. About Alphonse." She turned to me for a second. "That is your brother's name, right?"

"Yeah, that's him."

"I heard about him from Russell. We have second block together." She reached over and put her hand on mine. "I'm sorry, Edward. I bet you could have gotten home earlier if I hadn't forgotten about my church thing," she said, sniffing. "I feel so responsible for it."

"Y-You shouldn't! What happened was completely not your fault!" I said quickly, taking her hand in mine. "I don't think the situation would have changed either way. What matters now is that he's okay. Right?"

Rose blinked back a few tears and smiled at me. "You're right," she agreed. "I shouldn't feel guilty about it. Sorry to bother you." She ducked her head and wiped at her eyes. I smiled to myself and realized that she hadn't taken her hand from mine. Her hand was warm and soft in mine, her nails cut short so they weren't digging into my palm as I held it. It felt nice to hold a girl's hand.

"Ah! We're here!" Rose slowed the car down and turned into the driveway sharply, quickly hitting the brake. She nearly flung me out of my seat, but luckily I was still wearing my seat belt. She gave me an apologetic look and turned the car off. "Um, sorry. I'm not a good driver."

"It's okay." I remembered last week, when she forgot to put the emergency brake on. The car started rolling when I got out and scared me half to death. "Just remember the brake this time. Please."

"Oh! Thanks for reminding me!" She grinned.

_How did she get her license?_

I carefully stepped out of the car, leaning back in to quickly grab my things before the car rolled down the driveway. Rose turned the engine off and stepped out without any of the anxiety I was feeling. She turned back to me and smiled. "Come on, let's go to the living room. I'll have to ask you to stay out of the kitchen because it's a mess. Dad was making something yesterday, and he didn't clean anything up. So, please stay in the living room."

"Sure, okay," I replied, following her to the door. She unlocked it and walked through, holding it open for me to enter. Her home was just as I had remembered it from our first tutoring session: warm, inviting, and bright. The living room was quite small, but it was cozy enough for us. Rose grabbed my hand and pulled me over to the couch.

"Sit here for a minute. I'm going to put my stuff in my room and come back." She brushed her hair behind her ears and trotted to the back of the house. I smiled to myself and pulled my book out of my bag, placing it on the table.

Something caught my eye: a bright red circle with a ninety-six in the middle. I reached over the table to pull it over to me when I heard Rose's rushed footsteps and jerked myself back. She appeared again, and sat down beside me. She placed her book right over the circle and opened it.

"This is what Fury says the answer is, but I don't get it," Rose started off, placing her paper in front of me. "Can you explain it?" She leaned close to me, pressing her shoulder against mine.

"H-Huh? This?" I asked, slightly in a daze. "Oh, yeah, I can." I pulled out a pen from my pocket and clicked it. "See, um, here. The information given to you is that angle S is congruent to angle A, and..." I went through explaining the problem to her, trying to ignore the fact that she wasn't looking at the paper at all. She had her eyes set intently on me, unlike the first tutoring session, where she was concentrating on her work. "D-Do you understand?" I turned towards her.

"Uh, yeah!" she replied. "Totally." She turned away from me quickly.

"Oh, good. Well, then, maybe you could try tonight's homework." I flipped the page, and Rose reached out, taking my hand. I tensed from surprise.

"No, um, I'll do it later." She pulled my hand away from my book, holding it with both of hers. She looked up at me, cheeks flaming red. "Say, Edward, do you have a girlfriend?"

"A girlfriend?" I asked, surprise obvious in my voice. "N-No, I don't. Why?"

"Well..." Rose pushed another lock of hair behind her ear. "Do you think you and I...?" I blinked for a few moments. She turned away from me. I cocked my brow. I blinked for a few moments before it came together. Well, it really came together when Rose just suddenly lunged at me and kissed me. If anyone thought I had freaked out when Envy kissed me, they were entirely off. I literally pushed her away from me and had to quickly grab her arms to keep her from falling over onto the floor. She looked at me with what looked like hurt and betrayal.

"Uh, sorry, I..." I ducked my eyes, feeling entirely embarrassed about pushing a girl away from me, especially as hard as I had pushed her. There was just no way to explain it. Her kissing me was... I didn't like it. At all. In fact, I was grossed out by it. There was just something disgusting about her kissing me, and I couldn't stand I wasn't going to tell her that. Not only was it going to make me look even worse for pushing her, but that would be rude. Alphonse's disciplined teachings really seemed to have sunken in.

"No, no, that was my fault," Rose said, blushing. "I guess it's true what Russell said..." I stopped.

"Russell?" I asked in a tight voice. She looked up at me worriedly and nodded.

"Yeah," Rose answered with a slight nod. "He said he saw you kissing a boy at your house last night in your living room. He didn't say who it was, but..."

"Rose. I think I should leave." I closed my book harshly.

That bastard.


	9. Chapter 9

**Anyone ever had some of those York Mint Pieces? Oh my goodness, those are amazing. **

I slammed my front door shut and threw my books onto the couch, digging in my pocket for my cell phone. I typed in Russell's phone number so hard I thought I was going to break my phone. Luckily, the ninety-eight dollar phone managed to stay intact as I mashed the buttons. I pushed the speaker button and walked into the kitchen. I was going to give this boy hell if I had to drag him down with me. He answered on the third ring. I took a deep breath.

"What in God's name possessed you to start telling people I was GAY?" I demanded loudly. There was a clatter in the background, like Russell had dropped the phone. He stuttered out his reply.

"Wh-What do you mean, Edward?" he asked with a nervous laugh. I growled.

"Rose told me exactly what you told her!" I walked up to the phone so I could be heard better. "You're telling everyone that I'm gay, aren't you?" Russel growled in response.

"And how do you know it's just me?" he shot back. "How do you know if Ling isn't spreading anything around either? Or RanFan? She could be spreading rumors right now as we speak!" I cut my retort off short, giving it thought for a moment.

"Are they?" Russell snorted on the other line, and I clenched my fists as if I were going to punch someone.

"No, it's just me." Russell chuckled. "What? Is it not true? I saw you swapping spit with that weirdo from wherever. You looked like you were enjoying it, too." He started laughing. I grabbed my phone swiftly.

"If I ever see you around my house again, I'll fucking kill you!" I bellowed, my face red with anger. I closed my phone and threw it against the couch, a wave of relief flooding through me when it didn't smash into a million pieces. I stormed over to the couch and collapsed, hitting my face into a pillow. I wrapped my arms around the pillow and sighed heavily. Without Alphonse here to comfort me, I felt a little depressed.

"Hello!" The door opened, and I bolted upward. Winry looked in from behind the door, her face lit up to a slight pink. She saw me on the couch and closed the door, running over to hug me. "Edward! I'm so sorry about Alphonse! I wanted to come over, but Granny told me it was too late, and when I tried to come over yesterday, the door was locked, so I figured no one was home. I'm glad that you seem to be all right, though." She took my hands in hers and smiled before hugging me again. I put my arms around her shoulders.

"Yeah. Things have been pretty crappy for me lately," I said with a sigh. Winry pulled away, her hands on my shoulders. She looked me over, eyes intent. Apparently, that meant that I was supposed to tell her how things were going because she was silent. "First off, besides Alphonse getting put into the hospital, I found out that Russell's been spreading rumors about me. He thinks I'm gay for some reason." _Other than the fact that, you know, I kissed a guy. And liked it._

"What?" she exclaimed. "Ooo, I'll kill him! I'll strangle him! I'll beat him to death with my wrench! Tell me where he lives, Edward, and..."

"Relax, I'll kill him anyways." I patted her head. "And I just recently had to turn a girl down in my class. She asked me out and, uh, I... I said no. She seemed really crushed when I left."

"You're an idiot, Edward!" Winry slapped me in the head. I glared at her. "If you had said yes to her asking you out, you could have proven him wrong. He would look like an idiot." I opened my mouth to say something to her but stopped. She was right. I could have used that to my advantage. And I growled.

"I'm not going out with someone I don't like, and I'm not kissing someone I don't like." I crossed my arms, turning away from her. Some philosophy, huh? My cheeks heated when I thought of the other night. I wouldn't kiss someone I don't like, eh?

"Oh, fine. But don't get mad and go back to her because you don't want people thinking you're gay. It's your fault." She crossed her arms.

"What? She asked me out _before_ I found out about the rumors!" I explained. "She just suddenly threw herself at me and kissed me, and I didn't find out about the rumors until after she forced herself on me. I can't take all the blame here." Winry gave me a stern look. I returned it with my own stern look. She narrowed her eyes and I rolled mine, a sign of my giving up.

"Whatever. What have you been up to? I haven't heard from you since Friday." I turned away from her and crossed my legs. Winry beamed brightly, her cheeks turning pink.

"Oh, you will _not_ believe what has just happened to me!" she squealed. "I just got asked out on a date for this Friday! From the cutest guy ever!" She kicked her legs happily. I had to move over to keep from getting kicked in the head by her flying feet. She pulled her feet underneath her and leaned herself on my leg.

"Okay, uh, mind starting from the beginning?" I asked. She nodded, her ponytail whipping around behind her.

"See, uh, I was walking home with one of my friends when I saw him sitting down looking all depressed. And so, I go over and talk to him and he just stays silent." She pulled her hands away from my leg and crossed her legs. "My friend left because she said that he looked like a serial killer or something, and so I joined him and we started talking! And then, he takes my hand and asks me out! I think I practically choked him, and Envy was just all cool about it and..."

"Wait." I held my hand up and stopped her. "Envy? As in the Envy that lives across the street?" Winry beamed.

"Who else in the neighborhood has such an exotic name?"

"Yeah, 'exotic.'" I rolled my eyes, voice becoming bitter. Winry gave me her stern look again.

"Whoa. No need to, you know, show any support or anything. It totally doesn't hurt my feelings to have my best friend use sarcasm against me," she retorted monotonically. I shrugged.

"Sorry. Things have been stressful lately." I ran my fingers through my hair. "I'm happy for you, actually. Ecstatic. I'm glad you found someone you like." I managed to smile for her. Winry seemed to believe I was actually happy and threw her arms around my neck. I just hugged her back and swallowed.

"Aw, poor thing! Go to sleep an hour early tonight! You get a break tomorrow. I still have to go to school," Winry said, sticking her tongue out at me. "I'll find a cute girl for you, Edward! That way you can come with me on my date. I'm nervous about being alone with a boy, especially one as scary as Envy. He's hot and mysterious, but he looks like he'd stab me if I made him mad."

"Yeah?" I asked. I wanted to say, "How scary do you think he is when he's turned on?," but I held my tongue. "Well, thanks but no thanks. I'll be busy taking care of Alphonse this weekend, so I won't really have much free time." I stood up quickly. My chest suddenly became tight, and it was hard to breathe. I felt as if my heart had been ripped out and stepped on before being ripped into a million pieces. Why I was feeling this way, I had no idea. But I didn't want Winry around to see me like this.

"Ed?" Winry asked cautiously.

"Um, I have a lot of homework to do," I said, lowering my voice. "Could you leave, please?"

"Leave? But, Ed, I just got here..."

"Yeah, I know that." I turned back to her. "But if you stay here, I'll get distracted, and I'll have to stay up late to, uh, finish it. So, please, Winry?" She gave me a look and crossed her arms. Her eyes narrowed tightly, eyelashes barely touching her cheeks.

"What is up with you today?" she asked. "You're acting so weird. First you get all angry because I'm going out with a guy, and now you want me to leave you alone? Something's up, and you're not telling me." She stood up and grabbed my shoulder. "Ed, I'm your best friend. You're like my brother. Why can't you tell me what's wrong?"

"I just can't." I shrugged her off. "There are just some things that I can't tell you. It's... It's guy stuff." Winry sighed.

"You've gotten weird over the years, Ed. And I don't really like it." She put her hands on her hips. "But you're gonna be okay, right?"

"Yeah, totally!" I said, feeling my chest tighten again. I didn't chance a sigh in case it came out shakily and gave me away. Winry gave me a sharp look before softening it.

"Oh, fine." She wrapped her arms around me. "But I'm starting to worry about you. Call me tonight, okay?"

"Fine, fine!" I said. She pulled away from me.

"I mean it, Ed. Call me, and tell me you're okay." She put a hand on my cheek. "Something's changed about you lately." I simply nodded and smiled at her. She gave me another smile before turning away from me and walking towards the door. She stopped and looked back at me again before walking out and closing the door.

As soon as she did, I fell to the couch in a heap of pathetic tears. Envy. Dating Winry. Something about that just hurt me immensely. I hated that feeling. I _hated_ it. I didn't know why, but I just couldn't stand the thought of him being with her. My chest hurt just thinking about it. I shook my head, desperately wiping at the tears rolling down my cheeks. I hated crying, and it seemed I was doing that a lot lately.

I rounded the couch and snatched up my phone, typing in the first number that came to mind. I held my phone tightly, hand quivering as I rubbed the tears from my eyes. When I heard the machine in the background beeping before Alphonse's soft voice greeting me I just burst into uncontrollable tears. He had to talk to me in a low voice in order to get me to calm down. I didn't hear any other voices in the room, so I had guessed that he was alone without doctors or nurses.

"Edward," he said quietly when my blubbering had turned to pathetic gasps. "What's wrong? Are you okay? What happened?"

"_Envy_ happened!" I said angrily. "That bastard... The next time I see him, I'll...! I'll...!"

"Wait, brother. Take a breath and calm yourself. Tell me what happened." I did as Alphonse said, taking a deep breath and letting it out in a heavy sigh. My breath quivered violently, but I somehow managed to keep myself intact without breaking down again. Once I had relaxed, Alphonse started speaking again. "Tell me slowly what happened. Tell me who it was and what they did. Speak clearly, Ed, you sometimes have problems with enunciating."

"Shut up," I said, voice cracked to powder. "It's... It's Envy. He's mad at me."

"I know this, Edward."

"N-No, Al. He's really mad at me. He's taking Winry on a _date_ to prove it." I wiped desperately at my eyes. "It-It might have something to do with that kiss..." I blushed just thinking about it. Al was silent for a moment. I hadn't told anyone about it, and my stomach curled just thinking about how he would react to his brother kissing another male. I was worried he would say something critical about it.

"Oh, yeah. I remember that." I stopped. Remembered?

"What?" I asked, voice thick with the lump in my throat, but it didn't crack. I was past crying now and more onto surprise. Alphonse laughed nervously.

"O-Oh, uh, did you know Envy's aunt works at the hospital I'm staying at?" he asked. "Sloth, I think her name was... Well, he found out where I was staying and came to see if I was okay; he said you were really worried about me. And then he told me that he kissed you and felt really bad about it. Said that you actually threw him to the floor when Dad walked into the room."

"Y-Yeah, Al, I did," I admitted, embarrassment creeping up. "C-Can we move on...?"

"He also said he was mad because you really confused him," Alphonse went on, ignoring my plead for silence. "He said you kissed him back." Alphonse's voice sounded accusatory. I didn't want to reply to that. I wanted to throw my phone against the wall in hopes of it shattering to itty-bitty pieces. I wanted to crawl into a hole and die. Ever had that feeling? It sucks.

Alphonse continued, "And he said that he was going on a date Winry this Friday. He said he asked her out because he wanted to try going out with a girl. He told me to tell you he still thinks she's annoying." I laughed. When Envy had said that, he was watching a girl walk by. I began wondering if he was really looking at her the way I thought he was or if he was just distracting himself. "Look, Ed, if you like him, that's okay. I don't care."

I was stunned into silence. What was with Al lately? How much had Envy been telling him? When I found that damn boy, I was going to...

"Ed, are you still there?" Alphonse asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm still here," I said slowly. "W-What brought that up, Al?"

"Hm?" Alphonse laughed nervously. "It's just that... Well, I kinda guessed that you liked him... And he told me he liked you... So if it works out, everything's okay, right?"

"Al... How much did he tell you?" I asked, my depression slowly turning to mortification. I had called him for emotional support, and instead my brother was accusing me of liking a boy. A boy who had semi-forced a kiss on me. And I hated to admit it, but I liked it. My mouth actually began tingling when I thought about it.

"Just about the kiss. And how he likes you." I could practically see Alphonse twirling his hair as he talked. He seemed embarrassed to say it to me as well. "_Do_ you like him, Ed?"

"..." I rubbed the back of my neck. "...I don't know. Things have been so confusing."

"Everything will work out, brother. It always does, doesn't it?" Alphonse was probably smiling now. I just sighed.

"Yeah, I guess. I'll come over to the hospital tomorrow. I'll call Izumi and ask her for a lift." I ran my fingers through my hair. Talking with my brother was so relaxing. "Thanks, Al."

"No problem, Ed. No problem at all. See ya later."

"Bye." I closed my phone and sighed again, feeling like something had been taken off my shoulders and stopped pressing down on me. It was definitely better than just bawling my eyes out like I had been thinking of doing. And I still felt a pain in my chest when I thought of Envy and Winry together.

I ignored the thoughts when someone knocked on the door. It was quiet and hesitant. I jumped up from the couch and dabbed at my eyes quickly, fixing my hair to look at least a slight bit decent. Then, I walked to the door and opened it. A woman in a tight, dark purple dress was standing on the doorstep, black hair cut just underneath her chin. Her eyes were sharp, and they were the same violet that Envy's were. She looked like a porcelain doll standing before me, and she smiled dryly at me.

"Oh, I must have the wrong house. I always was bad with directions," she said in a velvet voice, frowning to herself. "Well, it happens."

"Um... Can I help you?" I offered as she seemed to zone out. She looked down at me and smiled, but her eyes were cold as stone. She held out her hand.

"Dante Bradley. Nice to meet you." I took her hand to be polite. Bradley... That was the name of our principal, Envy's grandfather. "I'm trying to find a house here in this neighborhood. My family lives there, and I just got back. You wouldn't happen to know this address, would you?" She pulled a small, folded piece of paper from her purse and handed it to me. I opened it and looked inside. Sure enough, it was for the house across the street. Envy's house. And I shivered when I looked up and her eyes flashed at my recognition.

"Oh, you're just a little off," I said with a laugh. "It's right across the street; that dark blue house there." I pointed past her to show it. Greed was coming out the front door as I did, and when Dante turned, she smiled. There was still something cold about it.

"Greed! My wonderful nephew! How are you?" She waved and walked over towards him. I walked out onto my front porch and leaned over the railing.

" 'Nephew'?" I asked myself.


	10. Chapter 10

**After seeing all of my friends with their boys, I just realized something horrible: I might grow up to be that lonely old lady with twenty-something dogs. Not cats. Dogs.  
Well, here's an exceptionally long chapter full of drama, kisses, and old-women who are very confused. **

It was still hard to wrap my head around. That woman who resembled Envy so much had called Greed her nephew. I guessed that she was Lust and Sloth's sister, another aunt. How large was their family exactly? But she might not have been a good member of the family. Greed had literally paled at the sight of her, and then he glared harshly at her as she approached. When she tried to wrap her arms around his shoulders, Greed lashed out and grabbed her wrists, pushing her away harshly. Dante almost fell over onto the grass if Greed didn't keep his hands wrapped around her wrists.

Not wanting to intrude into business that wasn't mine, I quickly turned back to my house and went inside, closing the door. Dante. That was what she had called herself. And quite frankly, I didn't like being near her. There was something about her that creeped me out.

I went back over to the couch where my books had been thrown down and pulled the textbooks into my lap. I would have plenty of time to finish all of the assignments before Wednesday, so tonight wouldn't be a rush job. Which was good, considering I couldn't get my mind off of the fact that Envy was taking Winry on a date. This weekend.

If anyone is about to complain about how much their love live sucks, I'll kill them.

* * *

"So? Do you like him?"

That was the first question that Alphonse had for me the very second Dad left the room to get a drink. He had returned last night, and I was so upset that I actually let him hug me. He seemed to notice how I was off, but he seemed to dismiss it and left me alone. I was grateful for it.

"W-Why do you keep asking me that?" I asked back, hoping he would drop the subject. Alphonse simply smiled.

"Because he likes you." Alphonse twisted his hair in his fingers like he always did when he was nervous. "And I've never seen you cry over anyone but Mom and me. If you're getting this emotional over someone, that's a good thing, right?" He smiled at me and dropped his hair. "You know, he regrets asking Winry out."

"Then why did he do it?" I demanded, feeling the acid in my mouth. Alphonse was one of two people who could handle my sarcasm without feeling he needed to do say something back. The other was my father, who seemed like _nothing_ would make him say something back. "If he knew he was going to regret it, why did he decide to go on a date with her?"

"To make you jealous, obviously." Alphonse laughed as I somehow managed to choke on my own spit. "He didn't say it, but it seems to have worked. Or, at least I'm guessing it worked." He shrugged.

"When Dad gets back, I'm gonna go get some water." I walked over and sat down on the bed beside him, leaning my head on his shoulder. I always wondered why I was born first if Alphonse was the one whom I went to for advice all the time. "I hate love. I want to kill it. I really want to kill it."

"Go for it," Alphonse replied teasingly, stroking my hair like he knew I liked it. "I'll back you up if it starts to fight back." I laughed.

"I'm back. There's a beautiful young nurse who's been telling me all about your progress, Alphonse," Dad announced. I jerked my head away from Alphonse's shoulder and walked past him.

"I'm going to get some water! I'll see you in a bit." Once I was out of sight from them, I broke into a run. I didn't want Alphonse to tell Dad about anything that I've disclosed to him. And if he mentioned Envy in front of him, I was definitely sure that he would start asking questions. And those questions might lead to that fateful night when we... Dammit!

"Ah! I'm sorry!" I said frantically. The nurse and I had collided when I spaced out,

and she had dropped all of the folders she was carrying onto the floor. I quickly fell to my knees and scooped them up for her. I was glad that none of the pages had fallen out. At least someone wouldn't accidentally be scheduled for an unnecessary amputation. "I wasn't looking where I was going. I'm so, so sorry!"

"No problem at all," the woman replied. I looked up as I handed her the files, my blood running cold. She looked exactly like my mother. Her hair was a few shades darker, but it fell over her shoulder the same way down her shoulder. Her eyes, however, were the same shade of purple as Envy's were, and her skin was lighter than my mother's light-tanned skin had been. She was almost like a Gothic-remake of my mother.

"Is something wrong?" she asked in a smooth voice. I swallowed.

"Um, d-do you know someone named Trisha? Trisha Elric?" I asked. Her brow rose.

"Trisha Elric? No, I don't think so," she replied. I sighed, feeling stupid. Of course not. She wouldn't know my mother. Because she _wasn't_ my mother, no matter how much she looked like her.

"Oh, well then, sorry to bother you..."

"Elric?" She grabbed my shoulder suddenly. "Is your last name Elric? Are you Edward?"

Why did I feel like I was going to regret answering this? "Yes, ma'am, I am."

"Oh, wonderful!" The woman suddenly pulled me to her in an attention-grabbing hug. She placed the files into the hands of a nurse walking by. "Take these to the desk. I have to talk to someone. It's extremely important." She grabbed my wrist as the nurse struggled to comprehend the lightning-fast instructions being fired at her. I felt confused by it myself.

* * *

"Envy's aunt Sloth?" I asked in surprise. She nodded with a dark-painted smile. Her lipstick was dark purple, unlike Lust's pitch-black lips. "Oh, so now I've met everyone."

"Yes, we're quite the family," Sloth replied. "You haven't met all of us, though. I have a brother, Gluttony, who works up in the North. He's quite the hoot on Thanksgiving." She laughed, and I smiled back. My guess was he was the fat one in the family.

"So, who's Dante? Why isn't she given some sort of 'exotic' name?" I asked, using Winry's word. Sloth's smile disappeared.

"She's the reason Envy lives with us and the reason why he moved here." Sloth folded her hands on the table. We were in the hospital's cafe, drinking coffee and talking. I had called Alphonse to let him know that I ran into someone and was talking with them. I told him I would be gone for awhile, but I forgot to tell him not to mention Envy. I would probably regret that later.

"That's not what he told me." Sloth raised one of her brows. I continued. "He said that he dated a boy, but the guy got creepy and started stalking him. And that he put the boy in the hospital because he wouldn't leave him alone." Sloth narrowed her eyes.

"That boy cannot stop lying to save his life," she said with a heavy sigh. "He didn't have a boyfriend. His mother was too harsh to even let him out of the house except for school."

"Mother?" I asked. "Like, the one who's fighting to retain custody of him?"

"How many lies has that boy told you?" She ran her fingers through her hair. "His mother is the only one left who even thinks about him, however cold her feelings are. It's a shame that she returned."

" 'Returned'?" I asked. Sloth looked at me sternly.

"Yes, returned. Dante is Envy and Pride's mother. And she is a complete bitch." Sloth's lip curled as she talked. "Dante was an alcoholic. She drank herself sick and threw parties all the time. Envy and Pride are both illegitimate children because Dante would have sex with the men she invited to these wild parties of hers. Envy had to deal with the poverty and abuse that came with having her for a mother for what I would believe were the longest ten years a boy could ever experience." She placed her hand on her cheek.

"Dante? You mean the woman with the black hair?" I asked. Sloth nodded solemnly.

"Yes. She became pregnant after Lust had had enough of seeing her nephew come to her home covered in scratches and bruises and smelling like cigarettes. Lust called the police, and after a long week of interrogations and inspections, Dante was moved to a home where she was constantly surveyed until she had her child. After she was released from the hospital, she was taken to jail under charges for domestic violence and child abuse, as well as disturbing the peace with her parties. Envy came to live with Lust, Greed, and me and practically raised Pride like he was the boy's father," she explained, playing with her hair.

"Where does Greed come into this?" I asked. "Aren't they brothers?"

"No, Greed is Lust's son. He's in college right now, and he's living there because he is short on money now." She twisted a lock around her finger. "Envy seems to be ashamed of this, and I do not blame him."

"Then, if Dante came back..."

"She did come back," Sloth said as if I did not know this. "She told Envy she wanted him to come back home with her so she could raise him. There was a horrible fight last night. Dante actually _hit_ Pride when he bumped into her by accident. I have never seen Envy get so angry in my life. If Greed hadn't been holding him back, I think Envy would have killed her."

"And I wouldn't have blamed him," I cut in to Sloth's surprise. "I have a little brother of my own. I hated it when bullies would beat him up in the schoolyard when they knew damn well that he was too sick for that kind of treatment. And once, they beat him unconscious, and the teacher had to call an ambulance to get him to the hospital. I nearly killed those brats if Winry hadn't stumbled upon the fight and stopped me."

Sloth laughed. I felt myself blushing, and I quickly took my gaze to the coffee getting cold in front of me.

"I can see why Envy likes you," she said. "You're... different."

"Likes me? Different?" I asked. Sloth laughed.

"He's really bad about showing his affection. He sometimes goes about the wrong way doing it. Like when he kissed you." My face turned red.

"D-Does everyone know about that?" I sunk low in my seat.

"Only Lust and me. He's too embarrassed about it to tell anyone else." She smiled at me. "I would appreciate it if you wouldn't tell Envy that I told you about Dante. He would be so angry and embarrassed." Sloth covered up a small blush on her cheeks.

"Y-Your secret's safe with me," I stammered. "Just... Don't tell my dad about the, uh, the kiss. I'm not sure how he'd react to it."

"Your father has a blonde beard, right?" She touched her chin. I nodded. "Very well, I'll keep it a secret. If he finds out through someone else, it's not my problem." She winked. I just laughed.

"Fine, fine." I checked my cell phone. "Oh, we've been talking for almost an hour. Al'll get mad if I don't return soon." I put it back into my pocket and stood up. Sloth followed me.

"I should get back to work too. I wasn't even supposed to take a break. The doctor is going to be very mad about my absence." She walked with me back to the elevators. "Well, he'll live. It not like there's been some sort of rush today. It's been quiet in town, lately, and there's not been much going on." She combed her hair out.

"Ha! Want to switch lives? I'd rather have one that's peaceful."

"Why?" Sloth shrugged as the elevator doors opened. "What good is living if you can't have a little excitement in the mix?"

* * *

"You took too long, brother," Alphonse said as I entered the room. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, whatever. I was talking with someone."

"Wouldn't happen to be my aunt, would it?" A dark voice asked. I froze and whipped around. Sure enough, my eyes immediately met with dark amethyst. Envy was standing by Alphonse's bed with his hands in his pockets. The dark sweatshirt he had left with me was draped over his elbow, most likely dry by now. He looked at me with less hostility than yesterday, but he still seemed angry. He shifted awkwardly.

"Um, y-yeah, it was. She sort of, um, dragged me out." I laughed, hoping to relieve the awkward air. Dad was sitting by Alphonse's bed near Envy. He seemed to sense the awkward air and broke the silence.

"So, Envy tells me you're classmates at school," he started, and Envy and I blushed. Did I mention my dad was not so good with small talk? "What classes do you have together?"

"Spanish," we both said quickly. I coughed.

"W-We only have Spanish together." I rubbed the back of my head. Envy shifted his weight again.

"Oh, how interesting." Hohenheim rubbed his beard. "You're much more polite than his other friends. Especially that Russell." My stomach curled and I glared.

"Speaking of Russell..." I turned to Envy. "I need to talk to you. Now."

"Why?" Envy shot back, eyes narrowed. So he was definitely still mad at me. That I could live with.

"Russel." I jerked my head to the door. "If you don't, you'll be quite surprised when we get to school tomorrow." Envy raised his brow before sighing. He said polite goodbyes to my dad and Alphonse (who actually winked at him) and walked out with me. We didn't speak until we got to a lobby down the opposite hallway. There was an old woman sitting down on a chair asleep, so I figured that it was safe to speak as loud as we could without yelling.

"Russell saw the kiss," I said quickly, dropping the bomb as soon as I was sure the old woman wouldn't budge. Envy turned bright-red at the mention of it.

"Y-Yeah, about that..." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know what I was think when I did that. I was just acting stupid..."

"Forget about apologies for a minute!" I said. "He's now telling everyone I'm gay with you. I found out from Rose yesterday that he's been telling the whole school behind my back. Er, our backs."

"I'll fucking kill him." Envy turned, and I lashed out.

"Wait! Your grandfather'll have a cow!"

"He could have a whole barn for all I care!" Envy sighed and yanked his arm out of my hands. "It's my fault, anyways. If I hadn't done that, this wouldn't have happened. And I shouldn't have punched him either."

"Wait. You punched Russell?" I asked, thinking back to yesterday. "He didn't have any black eyes."

"I didn't say I hit his face." Envy curled his fist. "Knocked his breath out for a good while. He nearly passed out!" Envy grinned, and I couldn't help but laugh. Imagining Russell lying on the ground while trying to suck in air like a fish out of water definitely made me feel better. And hey, if push came to punch, I could always ask Envy to back me up. At least we had a common enemy.

"Again... I'm sorry about that." Envy sighed. "I just... Well... Um, how do I put this...?"

I blushed and fiddled with my hair. Was I honestly going to tell him I _liked_ the kiss when he was supposed to be dating my friend? No. Because that would make me bad. I would be taking my friend's crush away from her, and she would hate me forever if I did. As happy as I would be to go out with him, I don't think I could do that to Winry. That would be too heartless of me.

"D-Don't worry about it!" I said quickly. "I don't hold it against you. And..." I began mumbling. Envy cocked his brow.

"Er, didn't quite get that, squirt," he said teasingly.

I ignored the urge to yell at him and took a deep breath, turning away from him.

"I don't kiss someone I don't like," I said slightly louder. Envy must have heard me then. His brow rose clearly, and I turned away. "I need a wall to bash my head into..."

"Oh no! You're not getting away that easily." Envy grabbed my arm. I made a point not to look at him. "That means you like me, doesn't it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said quickly. My face was hot. Envy laughed, and he suddenly became silent.

"You know, I might be leaving soon." His voice was quiet. "My mom... She ended up with the custody... She wants to go somewhere else." Here he was lying again. I was sure that meant that Dante wanted him back. And that he didn't have much choice in the matter.

"What?" I turned back towards him.

"Yep. Well, that's just if the court approves of her request. So far, they're looking it over, but Lust is seriously against it. And she's not too quiet about it either. She's told me at least eight times she'd rather have me buried alive than go live with Dante." He laughed. "And I'd rather be buried than live with her."

"Huh..."

"Yeah. Kind of depressing." Envy pushed hair behind his ear but failed as it fell back in front of his eyes. "I'm glad you're not mad at me. I would have been regretting that if I had left without apologizing."

"Greed seems to be mad at me, too. Please be sure to tell him that you're not mad at me, and please ask him not to kill me." I put my hands together. "He looks like he's about to drag me into a dark alley and cut my throat open. And I wouldn't put it past him to do it." I felt at my throat. Envy laughed.

"I'll tell him to lay off." He smirked. "On one condition."

"Oh God, what is it?" I rolled my eyes and looked over at him. He smirked.

"One more kiss? Please?" He gave me a small grin. I paused. Then I snickered. He glared. "At least I'm asking this time!"

"I'm definitely glad you're asking this time." I sighed. "Fine. Whatever."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously. If you don't hurry up, I'm going to change my mind." I crossed my arms. Envy laughed.

"I could always force it on you again."

I was about to reply to his comment when he quickly bent down and kissed me flat out on the mouth. Again. And instead of thinking of fighting him off, I wrapped my arms around his shoulders. Oh. My. God. That boy could really kiss. I felt like my knees were about to buckle. And the next thing I knew, we were French kissing. I didn't mind it at all, feeling his tongue moving rhythmically against mine. That, along with his hands running though my hair, was enough to turn me into - you guess it! - a complete gummy bear.

"My, my, isn't that odd?" a cracked voice said. Envy and I tore away from each other as quickly as we could. The old woman was awake in her chair now. She was watching us like we were her own private actors, her hands in her lap and a small, innocent smile on her face. Envy and I both blushed. "I have never seen a couple where the woman was taller than the man."

"W-Woman?" Envy asked in horror, his face turning red.

I had never laughed so hard in my life.


	11. Chapter 11

**I'm feeling like writing some squishy fluff. (Whatever squishy fluff feels like.)  
Final chapter... I think. Can't really see anything else happening after this. But thanks for sticking with it. Now, onto my next yaoi story!  
**

You wouldn't guess it by looking at Envy, but he really liked cuddling. After the hospital visit, I went over to his house (holding his hand), and formally met Lust. Pride was asleep on the couch, a slight bruise on his cheek. Lust saw us holding hands before we could untangle our fingers and nearly killed me with her hug. I kept looking over my shoulder for Greed, but Lust had promised me that he was in his classes, and we went to Envy's room until Dad would call me back. As of now, we were in Envy's room, sitting on his large bed, holding each other and just drinking in the silence. His arms were protectively around my waist, one hand holding mine. Both of my hands were across my lap as I reclined against him, feeling his heart beat steady and smooth. It quickened as he took a deep breath, nose in between my neck and shoulder.

"You're so quiet," I said in a whisper. "Say something."

He replied with a slight groan, but said, "I'm just... hoping I'm not dreaming right now."

"Why would you be dreaming?" I turned back to see his face. His eyes were closed, eyelashes casting shadows over his pale cheeks. He took another deep breath.

"I have never been so crazy about someone." His lips traced the words into my neck. "_Never_. I have never wanted to hold someone so badly. And now that you're actually here..." He tightened his grip on me. "...I keep thinking I'll wake up from a dream in that old house with Dante. And that everything I've been through was just a fantasy I created."

I closed my eyes and leaned against him even more, breathing deeply. His odor was sharp, obvious in my nostrils. He didn't wear cologne; it was completely natural. And it was very real. Very, very real. I could have just sat there with him for the rest of my life, feeling his heat radiating to me from between our shirts.

"You're definitely not dreaming," I said through a sigh, "otherwise, why the hell am I in here?"

He laughed. "Because I want you here. And if I would have had to have dragged your subconscious here by your toes, I would have done it."

"I wouldn't put it past you to do it." I took another breath, this time smelling some sort of coffee-like fragrance off him. Lust's perfume was there too, from when she hugged him after me. The smell of his lavender fabric softener came next. Who knew someone as "scary-looking" as Envy could smell as good as a "normal-looking" person?

"What are you going to do about Winry?" I asked. Envy opened his eyes and looked at me from the corners.

"The blonde girl?"

"Yeah, my friend." I cocked my brow. "Choose your next words carefully." Envy laughed and turned away from me.

"I do not know what I'm going to do," he said after a small silence. "And frankly, I don't want to think about it right now. I'll care later." He turned over and kissed my top lip.

Another smell that hit me almost immediately was the mint on his breath. The sharp smell of his skin came to me as a breathed, leaving an earthy taste in my mouth. And Envy kissed me again, soft and slow. He seemed to act careful about how he moved his lips against mine, seeing which way he kissed me would make me melt again. Not that it took much for him to do that to me. I hooked my arm around his neck, feeling his hair in my fingers, pulling him closer.

Our moment, however, was interrupted when something downstairs crashed loudly, and Pride began crying hysterically. Envy bolted away from me, kicking my leg as he detached himself. I ignored the throb in my leg and ran after him, stopping at the top of the stairs. A lamp had been knocked over and was currently lying in pieces on the linoleum floor. Pride was balled up on the couch, crying and wiping his nose on his sleeve. He saw me and ran around the couch to hide behind my legs. Envy and Dante were glaring at each other, a rolling pin in Dante's hand. She had it raised behind her head, and Envy had part of her red dress balled tightly in his fist.

"What the hell did you do?" he asked in a low, deadly voice. Dante let her head fall to the side, smiling. The hand she was using to hold the rolling pin fell to her side, the pin falling to the floor. Its impact was practically deafening in the tense silence.

"Nuthin'," she replied drunkenly. She put her hands on Envy's shoulders and laughed loudly. "Let go o' my dress. I need ta look good fer the party..." She collapsed to the floor, inches from the broken glass. Envy let her fall, a cold look in his eyes. Lust was standing near the doorway between the living room and the kitchen, looking at the scene with worried eyes.

"You're not gonna help me up?" Dante raised both her hands to Envy, like a child who wanted to be carried, but Envy jumped away from her. Lust took another hesitant step into the living room before looking straight at me. Her eyes narrowed.

"Don't move," she told me, and Envy made a motion that he knew I was there, but he never took his eyes off of Dante. "Take Pride back to Envy's room. Envy, go with him."

"Not with her here," Envy snapped back. "It's barely freaking six, and she's already piss-drunk."

"Watch it." Lust walked over and placed a careful hand on Envy's shoulder. "You have a guest, and your brother is crying. You have more important things to tend to. Greed will be home shortly. He and I will take care of her." She gave his shoulder a squeeze. I turned to Pride quickly, scooping him in my arms.

"Let's go." I ruffled his hair. "You're okay." He replied by sniffing and sticking his wet face into my neck. I walked back to Envy's room, and he joined us only seconds after we sat down on the bed. Envy pulled Pride into his lap, stroking the boy's hair. Pride just wailed, and I scooted closer to help him. Envy gave me a small smile while avoiding eye contact. He pulled Pride closer to him as the boy's cries softened.

"...I didn't want you to see that," Envy said in a low voice. "That was mortifying. _Horribly_ mortifying."

"What, your mother?" I asked. Envy nodded. "Well, at least you have one." I pulled my knees to my chest.

"Hm?" Envy made a noise of recognition. "Oh, right... Well, at least you don't have Dante to worry about."

"I wanna go to my room," Pride said groggily. He pulled away from Envy's shirt, which had a large, wet spot on it from where Pride had cried his heart out. "Can you walk me there?" Envy looked at me with a crooked smile.

"I'll be back." He placed Pride on the floor and stood up after him. Pride gripped onto Envy's hand tightly as the elder pulled his brother into the hallway. I relaxed my legs, letting my knees fall back in front of me.

Alphonse was looking healthier and healthier each day I saw him. Once he got back home and Dad was gone on yet another business trip, I wouldn't have time to hang out with Envy or anyone else. I'd be busy doing homework and studying and taking care of my brother. Things would be boring again, and I didn't want them to be that way. I liked a little excitement in my life, a little bit of unexpected events. However, I would prefer it if accidents like what happened to Alphonse would not pop up without warning signs.

"There you are, worrying about something." Envy leaned over and kissed my cheek. I just smiled. "What is it?"

"It's nothing." I leaned over and kissed his lips, taking in another deep breath of his overwhelming smell. His warm palm touched the back of my neck, pulling me close to him. "I don't want to go to school tomorrow. I really don't."

"Because of the rumor?" he asked.

"Well, that, and I don't think Ling is going to come pick me up tomorrow. I told Russell that I didn't want him around my house, or I'd kill him when I saw him. And he might tell Ling to just, ya know, pass by my house." I shrugged. Envy laughed and pulled me into his lap again.

"I could always give you a ride." He stroked my hair, and I melted."You could take Greed's place in shotgun. He couldn't blast that damn tasteless rap music anymore."

"I'd appreciate it." I laughed. "And I think I could save you from the rap music too."

"I think I could actually love you more than I do right now." He squeezed me.

* * *

"Please, turn that rock crap off!" Greed called from the back seat. Envy smirked, but he didn't look away from the road as he pulled onto the main road.

"No way!" he called back. "You forced me to listen to that rap music for almost two weeks! You'll have to deal with my music." Envy shot me a smirk from the corners of his eyes. I just grinned back.

"And don't put anything on my project back there, Greed!" I called back. He said something that could have been a curse word, but I didn't hear it. Envy just laughed and tapped on the steering wheel to the beat of the song. "If there's anything wrong with it, Hughes is going to take points off!"

"Oh, so this picture isn't supposed to come off?"

Envy jerked the car.

"All right, sorry! I was kidding!" Greed held his hands up to prove that he had nothing. "Don't kill us, Envy."

"I don't make any promises." Envy gave me a small smirk without taking his eyes off the road. I laughed and turned back to Greed, who was shooting me daggers.

"So, are you two dating now?" Greed asked. Envy raised his brows, barely hiding the surprise in his expression. I just squirmed.

"Er, yeah..." I paused. "...I guess."

"You guess?" Greed asked. "Or are you?"

"Damn it, Greed, shut up," Envy snapped as he pulled into the parking lot. "I don't have to tell you about every relationship or escapade I'm involved in." I snorted.

" 'Escapade'?"

"Shut up." Envy found a parking spot and pulled in quickly, laughing loudly when a girl flipped him off for stealing it from her. Greed jumped out immediately. Envy stopped the car and turned towards me. "So, hey, about that rumor..." He unstrapped his seatbelt and tapped on his knee. "Um, are we?"

"Are we what?" I asked. He made a sound of discomfort and sighed.

"Dating," he answered flatly. I blushed at the mere thought of it and turned away.

"Um... well, we kiss and everything...," I started, rubbing on the back of my neck. "So, I guess we are?"

"You guess or you know?"

"You and Greed are definitely related." I unstrapped myself and sighed. "Do you _want_ to date?"

"Yes."

"Fine then. We're dating." Envy grinned. I rolled my eyes. "You're so weird."

"Thanks. I get that a lot."

* * *

"Um, Edward." A delicate finger tapped on my shoulder as I sat down, ready for Hawkeye's class. I turned to Rose, who was giving me those sad puppy-dog eyes. She looked nervous and was playing with the hem of her dress. "Hey, um, I just want to apologize about what happened back on Monday. I'm really sorry. I just... I didn't really want it to go the way that it did, and I kind of got carried away..." I smiled.

"No, it's okay, Rose. It was my bad. I shouldn't have gotten mad at you. It was Russell's fault, not yours." I turned back to the front of the class, but Rose tapped my shoulder again. I turned back to her.

"So, um is it true?" She fiddled with her hair. I wanted to pull her fingers out of her hair.

"Is what true?" I knew what was coming before she said it. Just the way that she tapped her fingernail nervously against her desk and the way other students leaned in closely to hear our conversation. "Rose, just spit it out."

"Is it true that you're gay?" she whispered. I rolled my eyes as other people leaned closer, one boy almost losing his balance.

"Yeah, it's true," I said slowly, feeling how good it felt to say it. I was surprised that there was no ashamed feeling afterward. I looked towards the other kids. They all quickly turned away and looked to the front as Ms. Hawkeye walked to the board to write down half of her lesson. "So what?"

"I was hoping to get another chance with you," Rose said, her embarrassment gone. She had a small pout on her face now, looking disappointed. "I guess that hope is out the window now?"

"Pretty much." I turned back toward the front and ran my hands through the ponytail by my neck.

* * *

"Al! You're home!" I didn't care how dorky I looked in front of my new boyfriend, I tackled Alphonse and nearly hugged him to death. My little brother just hugged me back and waved to Envy to be polite.

"Brother, you have a guest. Don't you think you should walk them in before trying to send me back to the hospital?" Alphonse said. I just hugged him tighter.

"I don't care. He'll live." I heard Envy drop his books onto the floor.

"Well, fine, I see how it is." I turned to Envy, who was pretending to be devastated, but he was grinning. "I'll just die on your couch. Try explaining _that_ to the police." He fell onto the cushions and pulled his headband down over his eyes. I snorted. Alphonse let go of me, and I released him. I rolled my eyes and walked over to Envy.

"Poor thing." I leaned over his head. He didn't move. I bent down and gently kissed him. I forgot about Alphonse being there, but I didn't really care. Envy put his hand on the back of my neck and pulled me down so that I couldn't pull away from him, moving his lips rhythmically against mine. I pulled away for air, and he grinned. His headband was still over his eyes. "You look ridiculous."

"Hey, Ed," Alphonse tapped on my shoulder. "There's still some pie in the fridge if you would like some. It hasn't been touched in awhile. I think it's still good."

"Sure, whatever." I turned away from Envy, who was trying to gracefully fix his headband. "You want some too, Envy?"

"Yeah. Sounds good." He pulled it back up to his head and fixed it around the back. I walked to the kitchen where Alphonse was heating up a few slices. He turned back to me.

"Are you two...?" He crossed his fingers. I nodded. Alphonse gave me a look. "You do realize that Winry is going to have a fit. And what is Dad going to say?"

"Winry will live." I leaned over the counter, lowering my voice. "Knowing Dad, he's not going to do much. He'll probably say a few words here and there but ignore it. Or he'll act like it's not happening. But I doubt that he can do anything about it." Alphonse laughed.

"What are we talking about?" Envy asked, leaning into the conversation. Alphonse pulled away.

"Just about Dad."

"The really awkward guy from the hospital?" Envy looked at me. I nodded.

"Yeah, the bearded bastard."

"Edward hates him," Alphonse put in.

"I noticed." Envy put his arm around my shoulders. "Is he homophobic?"

"I don't know. If he is, he's gonna do flips." I turned towards the door as if he were going to walk through it at that moment. Envy pulled me closer to his side. "Is he home?"

"He left awhile ago to get something. I don't know what." Alphonse pulled the pies out of the microwave and handed each of us forks. "Dig in. Winry made them."

"Oh, like that's going to help me turn her down." Envy still ate, despite his arguments. "I'm guessing I can't hold you while she's here?" Envy shot me a pout. I nodded.

"Unless you want to suddenly tell her you're gay?" I said. He shrugged.

"Don't girls usually complain about a guy and get over him or something?"

"Winry's one of those." Alphonse smirked. "But rather than complain, she likes to face the source of her anger head-on. With a wrench." Envy choked for a minute.

"A _wrench_? Holy shit." He laughed.


End file.
